The Broken Wall
by DPlayer
Summary: It was a normal day... until a dimension rift sent Neptune to my dimension and home. Because of Histoire's quick actions, she could return soon and I and my sister decided to tag along. But... something horrible might happen... Our dimension might be in great danger...
1. Chapter 1: The first crack

Another beautiful sunny day during the summer break in Germany. You could go outside, play soccer, go swimming or something along those lines...  
Or sit in front of your computer all day, playing whatever video games you feel like playing. My daily routine at an age of 16 years.  
I had my usual green shirt, light gray pants and green back-combed hair.  
I was just playing Hyperdimension Neptunia, Fairy Fencer F or was programming my own game.  
Yeah, just a normal day... At least, I thought so...

Peacefully sitting in front of my computer, typing away, a static-like noise came from outside due to my opened window.  
I turned around on my chair to see a human-shaped blur fly through the same window. It seemed female, was wearing something black and definitely had purple hair.  
When she smashed into the wardrobe opposite from the window, a lot of debris and dust were thrown into the air making it hard for me to breath. Additionally a sudden flash of light illuminated the room.

"Neptune!" Who was that? If the fact that a somebody just flew right through my window and smashed into my closet didn't make me worried, the voice sure did.  
"Neeeptuuune!?" I decided to stand up and look through the window to anticipate something I would describe as a rift in reality, a portal or something along those lines.  
In it (or behind it) I could see a girl with pink hair in a white and purple skin-tight suit with a worried expression. I could only guess why she was worried and I think it was a safe bet.  
The rift seemed to be closing. I turned around again to see a girl with purple hair in some kind of white, ripped hoodie-dress, passed out.  
"You!" I turned around once more. She seemed to have noticed me. "Give her this!" She threw me some kind of bottle with a blue liquid inside, unable to go through the rift herself anymore.  
"What is this?" I asked her. But the rift had already closed. So I checked whether it had a label. "Nep Bull EX... Instant energy... Yep. Definitely crazy. I'm definitely crazy"  
I pinched my cheek just in case this was a dream. It wasn't. "Well, let's do as she said."

Before I had the time to turn around once more and give the passed-out girl the Nep Bull EX, she was already gone.  
"...Neptune?" I wondered, presuming it was the girl's name (in fact, I was pretty sure).

"Howdy, dude." I jumped from the sudden voice behind me to see the girl in question standing right there.  
"Ok. Das wird mir grad zu viel..." I thought loudly, in the language spoken in this region.  
"What are ya saying? Sorry, I don't speak something-ish." "Well, first: What just happened?"  
"Probably traveling dimensions." She said that as if it was something one does every day.  
Yep. Anything I assumed was pretty much confirmed as Neptune said that.  
_

We quickly exchanged information of what was going on.  
In the Hyperdimension Arfoire had not returned, instead 'Underling'/Linda and Pirachu were at it. They were causing a lot of ruckus in a district of Planeptune.  
Well, the ruckus seemed to have been a trap for Neptune and Nepgear to come alone. They shot some kind of energy weapon at Neptune and hit her.  
And the next thing Neptune remembers is waking up in my room on the floor. With ripped clothes.

Actually, now that I think about it, why aren't her clothes ripped anymore? I was sure they were earlier.  
Just Neptune. Don't question it. Though I have a suspicion... I'll ask later.

Then I filled her in with the information of the dimensional rift and Nepgear worriedly giving me the Nep Bull EX.  
Then some things about the location, what not do in this house, what not to do generally, not to climb onto me, etc.  
And some occasional "Boring..." from Neptune during my explanations.

"I just realized, we haven't even introduced ourselves yet. Well, I'm Deniz, 16 years old, mainly playing video games in my free time."  
"Hi, Deniz! I'm Neptune, CPU of Planeptune in another dimension and ..." "Spare me with your actual age." I cut her off. "Also, I kinda figured."  
"Whatcha meaning? How do you know? You said you didn't have any way of traveling dimensions, did ya?" I pointed to one of the icons on my computer screen.  
'Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birt...' It read, cut off by Window's text limit. It had Nepgear's face on it.  
"Uhh... sorry, my brain is currently melting like ice cream in the sun." "I figured."

* * *

 _ ***Some more explanations later***_

"So, that leaves us with figuring out how to bring you back to the Hyperdimension. And to explain my broken wardrobe."  
"Nah, just leave the first to Histy and the later to me." Hell **NO**. I didn't say the last thing because there was no way of stopping Neptune from doing anything. I knew that.  
And just like that, I heard somebody unlocking the door to the house and I knew who it was. My mom. And then I actually realized that she didn't even speak English, so there was a way of stopping Neptune. Hopefully.  
"Actually Neptune. My mom wouldn't understand a word you say. And she just arrived. Since I don't have a plan, how about you tell me yours." I expected her to get the idea to hide it or something.  
"Just say the truth. I mean, what kind of lie could cover up that." She said pointing to the closet. She was right. I had to admit it: Neptune. Was. Right.  
Good thing I'm not a certain black haired girl. She wouldn't be able to agree to that.  
"Let's hope she believes that..." I sighed. In that instant, my mother came across my room, seeing me sitting together with a girl next to me on my bed.

"Hallo, Deniz. Wer ist sie?" She pointed to Neptune. "Ihr Name ist... Neptune. Sie ist... eine alte Freundin... Ist es ein Problem, wenn sie einige Zeit hier wohnt?"  
"Ich glaube nicht, dass das ein Problem darstellt." I silently told Neptune she could stay here a little, to which she just nodded. She's not acting like herself.  
And the fact that Neptune ended up in a country where she couldn't understand anybody was great. Just great. "Oh, und sie kann kein deutsch." I told my mom, so she wouldn't even try talking with her. No point in doing so anyways.  
Then my mom realized the debris still on the floor, came in, and saw the broken mirror and door. Turning to Neptune, I whispered to her: "This is gonna be a long day..."

* * *

 **Translations of the German text in order:**

"Ok. This is getting too much for me."

"Hello, Deniz. Who is she?" - "Her name is... Neptune. She is... an old friend... Is it a problem to have her staying here for a while?"  
"I don't think it's a problem."  
"Oh, and she can't speak German."


	2. Chapter 2: The second crack

After some explanations (and absolutely zero believement) a person who I sometimes think is deaf comes from her room next to mine over because she realized that our mom was back from work.  
That person was my sister Diana. Blue hair, light blue top and shorts in a very light shade of - you guessed it - blue.

I immediately locked eyes with her. Mine just said "Help!" while she just returned the "WTF?!" face.  
She definitely noticed the girl even she could identify as Neptune and the debris because she turned around waving her arms dismissively.  
I was pretty sure she was also mumbling "Nope. Nope. Nope." Neptune seemed to have noticed, too, giving me a smirk whose intent I didn't understand.

"Who the heck was that clone of 5pb.?" "Oh right. That was my sister Diana. And don't talk about her hair color. Ever. The following events could be compared to... uh... I guess an angry Plutia.(?)"  
Neptune's eyes just widened and she hastily nodded.  
With her off that topic for good and knowing the foretold events wouldn't happen, I sighed in relief.  
Diana wouldn't torture others but she'd be really 'upset' about if she's mocked about it.

My mother didn't notice any of that and simply left the room holding her head in her hands.

"So..." I got Neptune's attention once again "how does that inventory thing work. You thought I didn't notice your exchanged clothes?"  
Neptune gave me a "Don't know, don't care." and added "It just works."

She stood up and looked around. "So where's your fridge or food stash?" She asked and hastily added "I'm hungry, do you have pudding?"  
Not fazed by the sudden subject change or the sudden glimmer in her eyes, I just told her to follow me, I'd give her something.

So we went to the kitchen, where Diana was drinking a glass of orange juice and giving me a stare Luigi would be proud of,  
I got some random pudding from the fridge, put it on the table and when I went to get a spoon and turned around,  
Neptune had already eaten the pudding and disposed of the cup, grinning stupidly.

I was surprised by the fact that she'd disposed of the cup, not that she'd eaten it already.  
Diana was definitely surprised by the later. Neptune's smile faded and then there was awkward silence.

"Deniz, mind getting to my room and explaining *her*?" Diana decided to break the silence.  
"Yeah, whatever. But she'd better do it."

* * *

Now in Diana's room, Neptune had repeated her albeit short explanation once again to Diana who was now gaping with her mouth wide open before recollecting her composure.  
"Sure you're not a cos...? Nope. Can't reproduce Nep's attitude. Impossible." "Having gotten into the Neptunia games yourself, thought you didn't like them."  
I had a stupid grin on my face because I knew I had never told her that much.

No reply. "So, loyal knights of Nep, guess we're now buddies." 'Nep' replied.  
Caught off-guard, we just nodded in agreement.

* * *

Not wanting to re-iterate the events during dinner because there is nothing worth of mentioning (surprisingly), we had no place for Neptune to sleep.

We all disagreed to use the couch when Diana remembered that hers could be extended. So we did just that and got a spare bed sheet.

"Good night." I said and turning to Diana I added "...and good luck." Diana gulped because she realized the possibly horrible mistake she made.  
"Good night..." She then finally replied unhappily. "Cheerio!" Neptune replied, covering herself in her sheets in the pajamas she suddenly wore. Won't ask.

I went to my room afterwards and got changed. "Oh boy, the next time is gonna be fun..." I already wanted to lay down when I saw something outside the window.  
"Great. Let's at least make it softer this time." So I opened the window, threw some pillows at the still-broken wardrobe and waited.

Then a girl with a dark grey hoodie, pale, grey skin and green hair flew out of the now-rift into the stack of pillows.  
The girl quickly stood up and I could see a shocked expression on her face. "Dude, you gotta..."  
"Shhh, quiet. It's 10 pm, Linda." Her expression now was twisted, whether she was wondering how I knew her or being surprised that I used her name. I didn't know.

Then it became serious. "How do you know me?" "Dimensional thingamabobs." I replied flatly.  
At that point I checked the window, seeing the possible escape for Neptune was gone already.  
Linda continued "What? Anyways, you gotta help me! Somebody's imitating me and now I'm searched throughout Gamindustri for kid-napping Planeptune's CPU!"

I facepalmed and explained "A: You're in another dimension now. Don't worry about it. B: The... mentioned CPU is sleeping... in the room next-door."  
She looked at me in disbelief before I bitterly added "Now get out of my home before I get the cops. Or Neptune."  
She now looked rather concerned. "Nope, don't! I-I'll go!"

I got her to the door and before she left I gave her an advice "You kinda look suspicious, so don't act like you look. And come back tomorrow; I have a CPU here and I feel like she'd probably help you... if you're lucky."  
"Yeah, yeah. Any advice of where to crash for the night?"  
"If you have money for this world, there's a hostel down the street. If not, there's a playgrou..."  
I was gonna start grinning before she interrupted me. "Yeah, great, twerp. See ya tomorrow."  
"Hey, I'm taller th..." Linda didn't look where she was walking and fell down the stairs right in front of the door.

I just turned around, closed the door - ignoring the sounds she made - and shrugged while Linda definitely cursed, now at the bottom of the stairs.  
"What the heck, she's fine. She's gone through... worse... way worse." And with that I went to my bed and finally slept.


	3. Chapter 3: Suddenly, Histoire

The next morning arrived. Well, 'morning' is an understatement, 'noon' would fit better.  
'11:27 am' My clock was never lying. Mostly. I did what I usually did: Get up, get my clothes and put them on, eat breakfast, brush my teeth and get on my computer.  
Outside the sun was shining which I didn't care too much about.

I found Neptune eating pudding in the kitchen, I was sleepy as we just greeted each other.  
I grabbed a piece of bread, smeared some butter on it and ate.

My sister was already at her computer, same daily routine for her as for me. Except she stood up earlier.  
"Morning." I told her, too. She didn't notice because she was too involved in CS:GO or whatever she was playing.  
I'm not that much of a shooter guy and simply shrugged.

When the door bell rang, Neptune shouted "I'll get it!"  
A few moments passed before the fact who it probably was at the door hit my system.  
Nope. Somebody's gonna get hurt. I gotta run.

Linda was already on her knees, Neptune holding her katana at her when I arrived. "Any last words, Underling?" Neptune chimed victoriously.  
"Nep, what did I tell you not to do?" I snapped at her. "But..." Neptune's voice was low. Linda started grinning and got up. "No but, put it away!"  
I lowered my voice to a normal level. "Let's just get the explanations over with so we can continue, so we can move on. I'll get sis."

* * *

"Sorry, what ya saying? I lost you at 'sis'." Neptune exclaimed.  
No response. "And ya came here 'cause some doppelganger pushed you into a portal, Underling?" She questioned.  
Linda angrily shot back "Don't call me that! And do I have to repeat myself?"

As if on cue, to prevent the situation from escalating, the Wii U and TV turned on, surprising everybody in the room.  
The TV showed a close up of girl's face. She was looking happy. She stepped back, or I thought so because as it turns out, she was floating on a book. She had long blonde hair and a purple dress.  
By floating away from the camera, she reviled a girl looking like an older Neptune who was somewhat relieved to see the CPU next to us and somewhat shocked to see Underling. At least that's my assumption. I did not have to ask _*what*_ exactly was going on, it was dead obvious, at least to me.  
"What did you to her?!" That question confirmed my assumption.  
Nevertheless, Linda's reaction was a dismissive hand gesture. "Nepgear, please calm down, there's no way Underling could establish a portal into another dimension."

The tiny girl probably hit one of Linda's weak points because she seemingly wanted to scream at the tome. Diana shot her a stare that said 'do-it-and-die'.  
The shivers this stare alone sent off, made Linda decide against yelling.

"A-a-anyways... Introductions fir-" I cut the tiny girl off. "Skip yours, Histoire. Nepgear doesn't need to either. I'm Deniz and this girl is my sister Diana."  
"Hi..." Nepgear didn't seem to have recognized me... I was pretty sure she would... Hmm...

"So why did you 'call' us?" I questioned. "We wanted to make sure we found the right dimension, and a video call is easier to establish than a portal. And less dangerous." Histoire answered calmly.  
"Aaand, Nepgear, you remember me?" I asked Nepgear.  
"No... Should I?" "The Nep Bull EX?" "Nothing." "Crying out for Neptune when she was shot in here?" "Nope."  
Neptune and Histoire now also looked at Nepgear. "Ya know, Jr's not acting like that. I mean, I can't remember stuff from after getting shot. But the Nep Bull is here, and those things don't exist here. And ya were the only person able to give it to him."  
Irritated by Neptune's incredible logic, I was about to say something, when 'Nepgear' ran hastily out of the room.  
Histoire just looked after her, still confused about her CPU's statement.

Diana facepalmed and shouted "Get the guards, Histoire! Do something!"  
"A-ah, yes..." Histoire brought out a... phone (?) and called somebody.  
"Imitator on the lose! She looks like Nepgear. Capture her." Histoire demanded from whoever was on the line.

"Oh, that's good. You work fast for sure."  
Histoire put the device away once more, before turning to us and telling us the good news.

"They caught her and immobilized her." "So...?" Neptune asked.  
Histoire continued. "They will try to get the information of how she opens rifts through normal means first.  
If that fails, I'll call the Ultradimension and tell them that somebody kidnapped Neptune and we're unable to get her location from the kidnapper."  
Shivers went down mine and Neptune's spines. "Uh... Thanks..." "I'd feel sorry for that person." Mine and Neptune's responses seemed to be appropriate as Histoire added some more information.  
"We made sure that there's a empty room at a local psychiatric." Her tone seemed less cheerful, even less than it already was and her face turned darker.

"I don't get it." Linda simply shrugged. "I mean, Ultradimension and the psychiatric part." "Lemme remind ya of R18-island." Neptune shot back, expecting shivers from Linda.  
"Wrong canon." was all I said when Linda looked even more confused.  
"I'll call you back in 3 days. It'll take that long to get results." Histoire concluded, with her finger raised iconically.  
"Bye Histy!" Neptune replied.

And as sudden as the machines in my room turned on, they were off again. "May I slap Underling now?" Neptune asked pleadingly.  
"Yeah, just don't break anything and make sure she's not ending up in the hospital." I replied.  
"Erm... I gotta go!" Linda ran off with those words. "Aww~" Neptune said, letting her arms hang, not running after Linda.  
I and Diana just giggled a little in response.

"Essen!" My mother called us for lunch.  
"Let's a go, guys! It's a food time!" I chimed because I could smell pizza.


	4. Chapter 4: Settling in for now

When we arrived in the kitchen, Linda was already there. "I thought you took off, as usual." I questioned.  
"Nah, I'm hungry, twerp. Besides you'd keep be keeping me off that broad's freakin' sword." She then looked over to my mother who just ignored our chatter.  
As she did so, my mother put the pizzas on the table at that moment and left the room.

We all took a slice each and started eating. "Where did you 'crash' last night, Linda?" I switched subjects, using her way of speech.  
"I got a room in the hostel." she replied already munching her slice. In return I gave her a suspecting glance.  
"With what money?" She almost chocked on her food but quickly recomposed herself.

"I... uh..." At least she's not lying... yet.  
"Ha, Underling's never gonna change! She's a picture-book-bad-guy!" The lilac-haired girl said while Linda's skull was met with a branch.  
"Ouch, stupid broad! We're in this together!" Linda rubbed her head and paused her rant. "Why'd you have a branch anyways?"  
"Underlings don't ask questions, the queen does! Where have you been at 10:30 pm yesterday?" The CPU shot back, smacking Linda once again.

I decided to answer that question for her, so we could get a laugh from it.  
"She was cringing from pain on the street at the bottom of the stairs right outside the main entrance to this house." A second of silence before my sister and Neptune burst out in laughter. I just grinned and Linda was covering her face with her hands. Probably the best choice she has.

"Deniz, koenntest du fuer einen Moment mal zu mir?" My mother called me from another room.  
I swiftly got up and hushed out of the room.

"Ich darf raten: Linda?" I asked. "Wenn das ihr Name ist." She replied. "Sie ist eine Bekannte von Neptune."  
"Und ihre... Klamotten?" "... Wenn sie sich gut darin fuehlt, ist es mir egal." " _*sigh*_ Ok."  
Afterwards I quickly returned to my friends i finished my food.

* * *

Now back in my room, Neptune asked "What should we do? Those are consoles, right? Let's game the time away!" She pointed to the Wii U and Ps3 I had.  
"Fine by me, but I don't have any hacks installed on them." I laughed a little turning towards Linda during that statement. She just looked at me with a unimpressed expression.

Yeah, I almost thought she'd be okay playing without hacks. "Hey, twerp. You'll definitely have hacks on that thing." She pointed at my PC.  
"Nope." " _*sigh*_ Fine. Let's do whatever you wanna do." Linda gave up while Diana left to her room to get back to CS:GO.  
She didn't say to, but her voice was evidence enough.

"This console is equivalent to one of Lowee's consoles" I said pointing at the Wii U before pointing at the Ps3 and continuing "while this one is equivalent to Lastastion ones."  
I took my hand down. "Planeptune has no equivalent. Instead the games are on one of these consoles or on the XBox which would be equivalent to Leanbox consoles. I don't have a XBox if you wonder. ... Well, that's what it seems like at least."

"You. Talk. Too. Much. Lemme see the games and chose one. You get some snacks." Neptune just replied.  
I pointed to the shelf above the consoles before leaving and getting chips.

When I came back, chips in hand, she handed me the box of 'Mario Kart 8'. "You know the phrase 'This thing killed friendships' in connection with a Lowee racing game?"  
"Yeppers. It's fun though." She replied cheerfully. I just looked at her irritated, handed her the chips and then put the game into the console.

Booting up the game, Linda gave the screen a death stare due to the 'enormous' loading times. "This seems ancient." Neptune added.  
I replied quickly "If _*this*_ is ancient for you, I'll come with you when you leave." "Don't you have to, like, go to school?" Linda argued.  
I pointed at Neptune "She's a CPU..." Then I pointed at Linda "...and you are one to speak! I'm probably a year older than you are! Besides, I have summer break!" I also looked towards Neptune during the first part of my statement.  
"Uh... School is... complicated." She joked nervously. "The way it works or what is thought?" I asked ironically, knowing she would probably say both.

"Eh... both." I shot back at her "Be happy you're even allowed to command the military."  
"Twerp, broad, just get to the game! I'm getting bored of your chatter!" Linda shot back annoyed. "'k then, hacker-girl."

* * *

We had played some time already, Linda was always last place, calling 'hacks', while Neptune was always first place with me slightly behind her.  
"Ya know, Underling, shouting 'hacks' won't give ya any. So be a good girl and be less annoying." Neptune said, accompanied by a stupid grin and a voice that almost sounded like a mother lecturing her children.  
Needless to say, Linda was not amused and pouted.

"It's getting late anyways. Let's get kick the hacker off the channel and relax." I nodded towards Neptune who happily grabbed a protesting 'Underling' by her arm.  
And threw her down the stairs outside. I slowly walked to the door and shouted "Get back here in three days! If you don't, your fault." Linda cringed on the ground.

"Still a better friend than that damn rat." Linda thought loudly while getting back up.  
"I'd be fine if he'd come to Gamindustri... ASIC is down anyways. I'm bored all the time therefore." She got up and trudged away. Towards the playground.

And the evening went on as the last one. Except no rifts.

* * *

 **Translations of the German text in order:**

"Deniz, could you come here for a second?"

"I'll guess: Linda?" - "If that's her name." - "She is a friend of Neptune."  
"And her... clothes?" "... If she's feeling well in them, I don't care."


	5. Chapter 5: Hardcore Gaming

New day, new chances. I woke up to the sound of rain hitting my window. When I wanted to roll around to get a look at the clock, I couldn't.  
Something held me down.  
That 'something' was Neptune, sitting on top of me and my sheets, playing Sonic Lost Worlds.  
...Uh... It's kind of... uncomfortable... so...

"What the hell, Nep! Get off me!" "Uh... Err... Sorry, didn't think I'd wake ya up, buddy. I was just bored and asked Diana whether she knew what I could do. So she..."  
I cut Neptune off before her speech was worth to be added in history. " **YOU'RE STILL SITTING ON ME!** "

...

I don't quiet understand how, but I managed to get her pinned below me on my bed.  
Not realizing the awkwardness of the situation, I jumped up, performed some flips, landing upright next to the bed.  
Neptune held up a sign declaring "7.8 - too much circus" We both broke out into laughter after that.  
When the laughter finally subsided I realized something. "I-I think I should get my clothes..." "Yeah, playboy. Good idea."

* * *

After the daily morning routine, I turned my computer on to play some more Fairy Fencer F. Neptune had meanwhile beaten the last three levels of her game.  
"I'm kinda impressed. I rage-quit on the third-last level. Too. Many. Bombs." I told her blankly while I waited for Steam to start up. "You got stuck? On _*that*_? Just how bad are you at video games?"

Neptune already wanted to laugh at me when I shot back "A: It's pretty much a Planeptune game, so of course you're good at it. B: Play Wings of Vi and come back to me."  
Good idea actually... I decided to instead boot up the mentioned game.

She realized what I was doing and come over to my desk. I made space for her to sit down, which she did, while I picked an empty slot and chose the highest difficulty: Demon.  
Then I handed her my controller. "Good luck with that." "I won't need it.", she replied, "Challenge accepted."

* * *

She made me eat my words. Literally because she wrote them onto paper and shoved them into my gaping mouth.  
Neptune had beaten the game without dying or even taking damage once while scoring the highest positions on all the online-leader-boards.

"H-how is that even possibllllwlllwlllwl?" She was shoving another piece of paper into my mouth. What did it say? I dunno. _IT WAS IN MY MOUTH._  
"You challenged a CPU and got owned, stupid noob." She blurted ou sarcastically.  
While I was choking on the paper, she put on a pair of sunglasses and ate some more Doritos and drank some Mountain Dew. I didn't even question it. It was Neptune. And MLG. MLG is always great.

"No fedora?" I asked sarcastically, but angry in tone. Then she put a air horn at my ear and activated it.  
I was unable to hear anything after that for the next quarter hour.

* * *

Neptune was babbling something I couldn't understand correctly...  
 _SOUND! I COULD HEAR AGAIN!_

When I realized this, the doorbell rang. "I'll get it!"  
Neptune shot up running to the door, still wearing sunglasses and now also a fedora, which she had gotten from... somewhere.

"Dammit! Not you!" Linda shouted frustrated in the door.  
"No worries, kiddo. You're fine... For now. We're kinda friends." Neptune's reply was cheerful.

Now at the door besides Neptune myself, I could see that Linda was soaked wet from the rain.  
"You need a towel. Brb." I told her and came back quickly with what I assured. "Thanks, twerp."  
While she was drying herself I asked "Gaming, food or both?" "Preferably both. Thanks for asking." Linda's replied sounded slightly less annoyed.  
"Also where is that chick and... what is the broad wearing?" She was pointing at Neptune for the second part. "Dia is in her room no-scoping all ze noobs... And I just have way too much swag." Neptune 'explained'.

"When did you start nicknaming us?" I shot her a glance. "Just now, Denz." 'Ms MLG' replied.  
"Those are freaking stupid nicks." I exclaimed annoyed.  
Neptune pouted. "You're no fun, buddy."

Walking by Diana's room on the way to mine, Diana called out "Underling, mind coming over here for a sec? I feel like you could help me with that hacker/somebody I assume is one."  
"Yeah. By the way, my name's Linda." Linda shot back and walked over to Diana.

I and Neptune already arrived in my room meanwhile.  
"Mind if I used your PC, I'd like to do some research." Neptune asked suddenly.  
"Yeah, sure. I feel like this is gonna end in you being able to blackmail all of your friends... but... What the heck." I replied, getting quieter towards the end while starting up Splatoon.

* * *

A few rounds of Splatoon and some cursing later, the CPU of Planeptune had finished her 'research' (she definitely had the HDN wikia opened).  
Linda was meanwhile still chatting with Diana, but not about hacks or the hacker, just casually like you would with friends.

But for me and Neptune, there was just this awkward silence and I figured I might ask this question now. "I didn't want to know before but... how old are you actually?"  
"Heck, I dunno 'bout that. Histy told me that'd take 3 months just to check and it'd not be worth the time and effort." Neptune didn't need any time to get that answer out.  
"You know anything about the Canditates' ages?" I continued. Neptune ignored me. I just gave up and continued playing my game.

* * *

Some time later, Neptune had gotten a little into Neptunia Re;Birth2 at my PC as she wanted to know what her little sister had done during her absence.  
She saved to an empty slot and decided to go check the assortment of other slots at the occassion.  
"Planeptune... Maker... Conquest ending?" She looked at me and I shivered at the thought of what I might have to explain.  
"What are all of these?" She questioned. I got ready and answered...

* * *

I didn't exactly answer it. I had to show her a video because she wouldn't understand or let me go.  
The usually cheerful CPU was now quietly sobbing. "You wouldn't let me go." was all I said.

Linda and Diana now came in the room soon after. Linda was amused at sight of Neptune crying. "Wow, what did'ya do?"  
"You're universe is..." I began but she interrupted. "The chick told me 'bout that already."  
I continued. "It's 'bout one variant of the events with ASIC... What the heck, I'll show you too."

* * *

Linda forced me to pause the video of the ending at a certain point she was... involved.  
" **OKAY! THIS IS ENOUGH! I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!** "

Well, looks like she actually cares for others (now). Maybe that insight in how the events might have turned out due to her doings would change her.  
Maybe. I could only hope.

Neptune had left the room. She needed some time to get over this.  
I can understand. I did as well. Well, after half an hour I got back to the game.

Nep will come back.

"I'm back! That never even happened, why'd I cry?"  
"That was a fast recovery." I replied.

"Let's do something else anyways." Diana suggested. "Sounds good."

* * *

Evening, almost bed-time, Linda was long gone already, while Neptune was recording another run of Wings of Vi, perfecting her 100% (!) speed-run with 'live' commentary, seemingly having taken a liking in the game.  
Needless to say, you would think it's a TAS if you didn't know better. Also, she was wearing her sunglasses and fedora.

I would have never guessed that _*Neptune*_ could actually _*focus*_ on _*one*_ thing for a longer time.  
Then again, it's a video game. And she's not annoying anybody. Why would I complain?  
We'll need to wait for Histoire's call two more days anyways, so I'd better plan something to do.  
Which isn't video games, because it's _*no*_ fun with the ASIC-ex-member.


	6. Chapter 6: A day at the mall

I woke up early, surprising everybody. This was because I had planned the day.  
Well, at least the afternoon of it: I would take Neptune and Linda to the mall. But I'd need to prepare them first.  
Linda, at least, would need different clothes.

"I'm heading out for a while, I'll go get Linda!" I shouted, ready to go and do as I said.  
"Don't let her clobber you!" my sister joked. "No promises." And with that, I left towards the playground.  
The walk only took a minute away and I expected to find her there.

Yep, and there she was, sitting on a bench and fiddling with some odd device. "Gah! No connection!" She shouted frustrated.  
"No surprises here." I commented. She was surprised as she had not noticed me approach her.

She put the device into one of her pockets. "How did you find me, twerp?" "I guessed. How's the night been?" I replied, stupid grin inclusive.  
"S-shut up." "Anyways, I want to go to the mall with you and Nep." I paused. "And you need to... change your clothes."  
"What the hell does that mean?" She shot back angrily. "That there's people who might feel offended? ...And that I don't wanna be seen with people wearing..." I paused and she cut me off. "I get it."

* * *

We were back at my house. Diana was cramming around in her dresser until she found a plain, black shirt and threw it towards Linda.  
"Here, that should fit you. And leave your hoodie here. It's... just weird."  
Linda took a look at the shirt and I quickly decided it would be best to talk to Neptune who was in my room now.

She sat on my bed in purple shorts and a white shirt with her N-insignia on the back. How did I even know what's on her back? She was facing me.  
"I got changed, figured you'd tell me to anyways." She grinned at me.  
"Uh... I didn't want to... But it's fine. Probably better this way." I told her calmly.

Linda then came over to my room accompanied by Diana. She was now wearing the shirt, her hoodie was gone and her shorts were the same as always.  
"Looks better." I told her with a flatly. She just stared at me like she was gonna say 'You suck, too'.

While she never spoke out the insult, she instead asked questions. "Where are we going to? Why? And when?"  
"In order." I began "After lunch. The mall not too far from here. We still need to wait a day for Histoire's reply and I'm *not* playing video games with you anymore."

"Come on, Underling! It's gonna be fuuuun! Besides, we have no idea of what's going on in this dimension and I don't wanna come back with empty hands after a dimensional trip."  
Neptune tried to cheer up the situation.  
Diana quickly added "Besides, you knew what was coming towards you and still came here." "Meh, fine, whatever."

* * *

Quickly afterwards we headed towards the inner city. We had a total of roughly 60 in our pockets and planned to use it all.  
"Imma hungry. I want food." Great. We just arrived and Neptune was already complaining. "Probably not a bad idea. It's 12 o'clock already." Diana pointed out checking her phone.  
"Good point. So whatcha want? We could get some kebab, pizza or burgers. There's not that much of a choice here." I told them.

* * *

We settled on a kebab for everybody and we were in process of eating when Linda spoke up. "How much privacy do we actually have speaking English here? I mean, they all just speak gibberish to me."  
"Enough. People don't care that much about what others talk about anyways. And because we're speaking a 'foreign' language, that just adds upon." I replied matter-of-factly.  
"And if they listened, they would assume we'd just talk about games or somethin'."

"Also, this is really good..." Neptune suddenly said "Not as good as pudding but still..."  
"Right... You probably don't have this stuff where you come from." Neptune and Linda nodded.

Meanwhile they were also getting weird stares from passerbys. "Is it just me or is everybody staring at us like we're aliens from another dimension?"  
"By definition, you are." I laughed quietly enough for nobody to hear.  
Diana decided to find another explanation. "I have a feeling that Linda's skin color is... awkward and Neptune's hair is just really messy. Either that, or they recognize you."  
"I doubt the latter because I have yet to find a single person with interests in HDN games around here." I quickly added before anybody had a chance to reply.  
"So... we're good?" Neptune smiled once more (like she always did) and she bit into her kebab. "I dunno 'bout Linda. She might have stolen money." Linda just ignored my comment and ate on as well.

* * *

"Target acquired! Requesting permission to launch!" Neptune was ready to storm into the convenience store we planned to go to, having finished our food by now.  
"Permission granted..." I replied, ready to facepalm if she was to run into the door.

Well, Neptune didn't. Instead, she was holding the door open for us and other people wanting to enter or leave the store.  
We were surprised to say the least. As we approached her, she answered our questioning looks. "Look, I'm here for just a few days, *hopefully*, and if I leave an impression, it's supposed to be a good one."

"Still better than your original plan." Diana shot back. "I just told her 'We're shopping, not doing Pay Day IRL'."  
No questions were asked while Neptune just sheepishly smiled and scratched the back of her head. "When was the last time you had a good idea?" I sarcastically asked.  
"Uh... Let me think..." The fact that Neptune thought several seconds about it before giving up was expected but SHE'S IN CHARGE OF AN ENTIRE FREAKING NATION.

"Let's hope you don't include politics." I added. "Planeptune's fine. Histy's making sure it's not burning."  
"Has that happened already?" "I'm not answering that." She made a zipper motion across her mouth.  
So yes, it happened. Then I shot a glance at Linda who immediately realized what I was suggesting.  
"D-don't look at me! I haven't done anything like *that*!"

"Let's just get going. We're wasting time!" Diana had yet another point.

* * *

We were back home now. The day was pretty normal and fun:  
Linda hadn't stolen anything, Neptune did her usual shenanigans (mostly flips and random stuff), Diana had a new pair of running shoes (I kinda expected that) and the police didn't need to drag us home.

"That. Was. Awesome!" Neptune chimed satisfied.  
"And everything went well. Mostly. If you would excuse me, I'm gonna change my clothes. There's still pudding..." I forgot to mention that part. Oh well.

* * *

When I came back from changing clothes, Diana seemed to have arranged a sleeping place for Linda... well, I assume so.  
"Sleepover!" Neptune cried enthusiastically.

That confirmed it. Yep. A criminal from another dimension is sleeping in my home. Just. What. I. Needed.

*sigh* Can't be too bad. I mean, she's already getting along with one of her former enemies, so what the heck. She can sleep here for one night.  
"Guess I'll leave you alone then..." I quietly spoke to nobody in particular. They didn't hear me anyways so I went straight to bed and dozed off quickly.


	7. Extra 1: Diana

_[German] indicates the beginning of actually German speech._  
 _[/German] indicates the end of that area._

* * *

 _ ***~1 year ago: Diana's POV***_

I was about to have my 15th birthday.

I was out with Deniz once again.  
We didn't go out of house that much when we didn't need to as we were occupied with our video games.  
Why were we out then? We were gonna buy a set of 'balance-cards' for Steam.  
That's what I will call them.  
So anyways... It's... not a day I liked particulary. Rather the opposite.

 _[German]_  
We were just outside the store, we had yet to head inside.  
Out of the blue, some random guy, maybe 2 or 3 years older than us, walked up to us and pushed us.  
"What the hell, dude?" Deniz shouted. His face was quickly met with a fist and he passed out...  
Well there I was. Alone. People had already started to distance themselves.

Nobody was gonna do something.  
I had to do something.

I took a fighting stance.  
As I did, he just laughed at me. "You think, ya can beat me? Hah-"  
I delivered a swift kick to his left knee. "Yeah. 'cause you used to bully people before you took my shoes to the knee."  
He was definitely staggered by the attack, but he quickly went to return it.  
Punch at my head. Sidestep. Counter with a second kick to the same knee.  
This time though, he had collapsed on his left side and let out an a yell in agony.  
I definitely held my guard up, but didn't seem to do so to the outside as I got out of the fighting stance.  
Thinking, that I thought he was down, he swipped his remaining foot at my own feet.  
I made a short hop and landed on his ankle. I continued to drill it with my heel.

"Defeated now!" I took my foot of his ankle.  
"N-no..." He said weakly.  
Just my luck that he was on the ground and couldn't dodge any of my attacks. Hehe...  
"Wow, you're persistent." I returned as I delivered a kick to his face.  
Welp, now he's KO. And he has a bleeding nose.

Just now, Deniz had recovered from the attack he took and saw the guy on the ground, unconscious and defeated.  
"D-did you?" He asked weakly and slowly stood up. I helped him and answered.  
"Yes," I said and yelled, " **AND NOBODY HELPED A GIRL!** "  
The passerbys that stood there the entire time had just realized that they did and just walked onwards, like nothing even happened.

"Let's get the cards." I said.

* * *

We had gotten our cards and headed to the exit.  
And the guy waited for us outside after he had recovered.  
"I was waiting for you." He said, trying to intemedate us.  
"And I was looking forwards to hit you again." I returned, unphased by his voice.  
Deniz distanced himself a little as I brought my foot once more to his knee.  
And that was all it took to make him fall again.

He wanted to say something as I simply smirked at the dude who was beaten by a girl younger than him, not just once, but twice.  
" **OUCH, YOU LITTLE B-** " "Go to _*hell*_!" I cut him off and delivered another kick, this time to his other knee.

"Let's go Deniz." "Uh... 'k..."  
 _[/German]_

* * *

We had actually seen this guy several times from then onwards.  
Always alone.  
And I _*always*_ kicked his ass back to the nearest hospital.  
Yeah... feels good.


	8. Chapter 7: To the Hyperdimension!

I'm in a long dark corridor. I can see someone else. Who it is?  
No idea, I can't recognize him or her. We're just walking down the corridor. It seems endless until we can see a light at the end of the tunnel.  
Outside there is a battlefield. I still can't make out anybody. I'm now fighting alongside the figure I was with in the corridor.  
Suddenly I get a vision of Nepgear. She's looking really depressed. Histoire is close to her. She's looking sad as well.  
"Where is Neptune?" I hear Histoire ask. There is no response, just sighing. It... It doesn't make any sense!

Suddenly I'm back in the corridor with the figure with me again, going down the same path and ending up in the same battlefield.  
But this time, before I get to fight, everything just fades out of existence. Now there is me and Histoire.  
"You can change fate." she says.  
"I can't." I reply. Why did I say that? Why? I didn't wanna say anything!

And then... I woke up.

I checked the clock. 5:49. I was in my bed, in my room. Everything seemed normal.  
"Must have been a nightmare..." I sighed.

"You _*can*_ change fate, but you _*can't*_ change the story."

"W-who said that?!" I got no reply. The voice seemed malicious, menacing and yet it was familiar...

No, it can't be... Well, actually there's a goddess from an another dimension sleeping in my house so why not... But still...

I decided to think about it. Later. So I got up when I was surprised because the TV and Wii U turned on.  
"...FML. I'm in my underwear. _*sigh*_ " Then the TV was on and you could imagine Histoire's face when she saw me half-naked.  
She floated back and I could see a girl in a too large blue coat, probably IF, Nepgear (hopefully the real one) and another girl with long blue hair in a black shirt, and a gray skirt.  
They were just as dazed as the tome. Except for the girl with blue hair.

"I-I am so sorry." Histoire stuttered. "I w-wasn't aware you just woke up."  
"Uh... How about I first get dressed, wake up the girls from next-room and we'll continue then." I quickly replied.  
They all hastily nodded in unison.

* * *

"Hey, Iffy! Long time not seen! How's work doin'?" An energetic Neptune greeted one of her bestest friend.  
Linda and Diana on the other hand were somewhat sleepy and just sloppily dressed.  
"Hey, Nep. Everything's fine on my end." IF greeted her back. "Uh... how late is it over there?" She continued.  
"Like... 6 am... or something..." Diana replied. She was leaning against Neptune because she had a hard time even keeping awake.  
"It's almost noon over here." IF was wondering why. "Dimensional time flow? Yeah, probably."

"I guess we need introductions first!" Histoire reminded. "You should know IF and MAGES., right?" I and Diana nodded.  
So that was just MAGES.. I couldn't recognize her in those clothes.  
Histoire continued "The boy is Deniz and the girl is Diana." She turned to IF and MAGES. while pointing at us.

"Before you give us any results, Histoire, mind explaining why Mages is here?" I questioned. "It's MAGES. with a full stop." MAGES. interrupted. "Don't care..." I mumbled.  
"I'm here to help establish the connection. If everything worked, you should be able to contact us any time via that console now."  
MAGES. explained herself, taking the words out of Histoire's mouth who was taken back for a moment.

"So... Ah, yes. The results." Histoire started. "We needed to call the Ultradimension... unfortunately." She paused and a shiver ran down our spine.  
"The woman in question told us that she's not the 'evil master-mind' behind all this and only gave us an alias of OC for her name." She continued.  
"Her disguise device, dubbed the DisguiseCraft, allowed her to copy the physical appearance and voice of any person, not anything else.  
She opened the rifts using a device dubbed the OcRift. It's destination is hard-coded and can't be changed therefore."

"And I was found by IF due to my screams for help..." Nepgear added, slightly embarrassed.  
"It-It was nothing. The guards ran away when they saw me approach them with my blades." IF brushed it off quickly.

"So, um yeah... When can I return and stuff. I kinda wanna go back home." Neptune said.  
"And I still have business with that rat of a partner." Linda added in a threatening voice.  
Histoire's reply came quick "Give me about an hour. We should be done by then."  
I then asked "Also, can I speak with just you for a second, Histoire." "Sure, what is it." She replied.  
The others took that as a sign to leave (or go back to bed in Diana's case).

* * *

I told her about the nightmare I had and the voice that I heard afterwards which I would associate with Arfoire.  
"I don't know if I should be concerned about it." Histoire said lost in thought.

A few seconds later she told me "I'll consider the possible return of Arfoire, in Gamindustri and in your world. Anyways, I'll call you back when the portal is established!"  
"Bye." "Good bye." And the TV and Wii U were off.

I joined the others in their discussion in Diana's room. "...and that's why you should come with us!" Neptune had just ended her sentence and probably some kind of speech.  
"I can guess pretty well what you've talking about in the time I spoke to Histy." I told her while I came in. "Aaaand? You're response?" Neptune basically touched my nose with hers.

"If there's inter-dimensional internet, sure. 87% of the stuff I learn at school is pointless anyways..." "Sounds like a waste of time." Linda interrupted me.  
"...and this world has wars because of something that should exclaim peace because they don't agree." "So yes?!" Neptune asked again enthusiastically.  
"I won't repeat myself." I replied with a smirk. She almost wanted to perform a double back-flip when Diana interrupted.  
"And our family friends?" Diana questioned. Neptune answered "Inter-dimensional internet, duh!" "Gosh, I might as well come, too." Diana gave in (really quickly).

"And you'll make sure, the other CPUs won't try to decapitate me, right?" Linda suddenly spoke up.  
Neptune simply smiled and nodded before adding "But do one stupid thing and you're going to the torture chamber."  
"Torture chamber?!" Everybody (safe for Neptune) yelled. "Whoa, calm down, kiddos! It was a joke!" We relaxed again.

Diana raised her hand to get attention. "Where would we stay?"  
"Temporarily in the basilicom." The CPU answered before adding. "I'll get a home for you soon enough!"  
"Does that include Underling?" Diana asked. "If you let her." Neptune joked.

* * *

"We're ready." Histoire exclaimed. We had already picked up the stuff we might need.  
"So what are we waiting for! Let's go!" I already wanted to step through the portal when Diana stopped me.  
"At least leave a message." "Kk."

A hastily written message which says we're in another dimension (as if somebody would believe that) and we're reachable via Skype was now on the table in the kitchen.  
"Now, let's go!"


	9. Chapter 8: Vert happened

"Um, so... here we are."  
I didn't have a lot to say when we stepped through the portal to the Hyperdimension because... well... I dunno.  
We were in the Planeptune Basilicom, probably somewhere on the upper floors. There was a balcony connected to this room.

"Hey, Nep Jr! Have ya been up to something crazy while your big sis was gone?" Neptune broke the temporary silence.  
" **NEPTUNE!** " Nepgear immediately ran up to her sister and hugged her. "I was so worried!"  
"Says the one who was actually kidnapped..." I muttered just quiet enough for nobody to hear.

"So, um, Histoire?" I began. "Are the other CPUs here by chance?"  
"Ah, no, not yet. But I called them here so we could discuss a plan in case Arfoire returned." She replied.  
"Kind of expected of you to plan out everything."

As if on cue, two girls in black body-suits flew onto the balcony. They both had white hair, the taller one had them free, the shorter has them... in spirals.  
"Oh, hello. Noire, Uni." Histoire greeted the CPUs of Lastation. Nepgear and Neptune added their greetings.  
"Hello." "Hi." The CPUs gave back respectively before being enveloped in a flash of light. When the light faded, they were in their human forms.

"Wouldn't have expected Uni to come, too." was all I said in that situation.  
That drew their attention to me and Diana. "And _*who*_ are they?!" Noire asked. Uni just stared at us like we were criminals.  
Either that or she looked at Linda, who was still next to us.

"I'm Deniz, and came from another dimension." "And I'm Diana, his sister." They just looked at us critically.  
"So, from the one Neptune was stuck in?" Noire questioned again. "Yes."  
"And she?" Uni pointed at Linda, who was just deadpanned. "I was stuck there, too. The person who send Neptune there did the same with me."  
Noire wanted to open her mouth again when I interrupted. "How about we explain, when _*everybody*_ is here? I don't want to explain everything trice." "Good enough." she replied.

Then Green Heart, White Heart and her sisters flew onto the same balcony. Well, that's convenient.  
They disengaged their HDD as well. " **WHY IS UNDERLING HERE?!** " Blanc and Vert shouted in unison.  
" **GOSH, RUDE!** " I shouted back, staggering them. "No 'hello', no introductions, just... _*sigh*_ "

The white sisters quickly left the room with Nepgear and Uni after that, while Vert got really close to me and seemed to inspect me.  
"Lady Vert, personal space... please..." I said while slowly stepping back. "Oh, yes, sorry." She apologized and gave me some space.  
"Let's go to the conference room!" Histoire suggested. Before anybody could agree Neptune was already out the room.

* * *

We were now in the conference room. It was really just a white and purple room with some bookshelves, a large window and a coffee table with some chairs around it.  
We all sat down in a chair each while Neptune was already sitting there with a cup of pudding.  
Vert chose to sit next to me... Is it because I'm the only male? What is so... Is it because of my hair is green? Seriously?

Histoire began. "So, since our guests wanted to introduce themselves first, we should begin with that."  
Therefore I started. "Hello, CPUs, my name is Deniz. I come from a dimension where this dimension is a video game."  
Diana continued. "Hello, my name is Diana and I'm his brother."

"So I guess we go next..." Noire wanted to introduce herself, when Histoire interrupted. "They know all of you. Not personally, but well enough."  
"Just a greeting is enough." I added. Noire continued. "So they have CP..." "No. I actually told you the reason already." I interrupted.  
"Why should we believe that?" Blanc asked, in her quiet, monotonous voice. "Ask her." I told them while pointing at the purple ditz.  
"*gulp* Yeah, he's right. It's like scarily accurate." She told them. "Like, they have our exact measurements."  
Vert spoke up. "That sounds... interesting..."

"It's not that kind of game." I replied. "Well, mostly. It's a JRPG. Besides, we're here for another reason."  
Histoire continued. "Yes, we're here to discuss actions in case Arfoire returns."  
"Question! What exactly did you do to Arfoire?" Diana interrupted.  
"The Deity of Sin was destroyed..." Histoire began, understanding what she was trying to get at.  
"That means, there's probably an Arfoire in your dimension... But how? There's not even CPUs there..."  
I was sure I could see smoke coming from Histoire's ears. "Histy, don't think too hard about it! Doesn't matter where she came from, it matters where she is there!"  
"Actually, what if the person behind all this imitates Arfoire to some degree." I threw in. "Would explain how he or she is involved."  
"Sounds reasonable." Histoire agreed.

"Uh, guys, I'm here too..." Linda waved her hands above her head, gaining everybody's attention. "Might wanna hear why I decided to help? Or at least not kill you?"  
A united 'No' was the answer. "Well, fine."

* * *

We were done with the discussion. In the end, we just settled on the generic 'evacuate-and-fight' plan in case Arfoire appeared in a city or get another plan based on the situation.  
Histoire was gonna tell the candidates while Vert wanted to speak in private with me.

I was just barely taller than her, which made keeping eye contact okay-ish.  
"So, what did you wanna talk about, Lady Vert?" I asked her calmly. "You seem to have been keeping an eye on me the entire conference."  
"Drop the 'Lady', I'm not that formal. Just Vert is ok." "Ok then, Vert."  
"I've been looking for a candidate for some time now..." I already didn't like where this was going.  
"...so I've been wondering..." She was getting really close now. I took a step back.  
"...if you would like to..." She was getting closer and onto her toes. I was starting to blush because this is just embarrassing.  
"...become mine?" She was now holding me at the shoulders and pressed me down slightly.

"Uh... Vert..." "Yes?" "I-I'll think about it..." "That's great!"  
"Now get your... chest out of... my face." I replied.  
"Why? Don't you like it?" "I'd... rather... breath."  
"Oh, I'm sorry." She gave me back my personal space. I breathed in again. Oxygen, sweet oxygen.

"So, um, why me?" I asked after regaining my breath. "Because you look like the perfect candidate."  
"And... how would you even do that? Get a CPU memory?" I questioned.  
"Actually, no. We could simply announce you as a CPU Candidate officially and if they accept you, that's it."  
Yeah... now she's saying it, I remember something like that in one of the games... kinda.  
"Ok, so, um..." My eyes darted to the door. There was somebody. "Why are you spying on us?"

At that, Neptune and Blanc dropped into the room. _*Blanc*_ of all people.  
"I wouldn't have expected that from you Blanc... _*tsk-tsk*_ Lemme guess, for one of your books?" She got up and turned away.  
"And as expected of Neptune. Doesn't matter. I was gonna look for you anyways." Neptune got up as well and I dragged her with me out of the room.

"Where do we sleep?" "We have a fancy guest room just across my room!"  
"Well, good enough. Would you mind getting Diana and Linda and then bring us to the room?" "Sure thing, buddy!"


	10. Chapter 9: Forgot a certain sleepyhead

So... let me re-iterate the last day first:  
I woke up at 6 am and immediately got a call from Histoire.  
Then I dressed up and got the others.  
We finished the call and played video games until about 7 am waiting for the portal.  
After that Histoire called again and established the portal, which we went through.  
In the Hyperdimension it was about 1 pm by that point.  
Then we had a conference in case Arfoire returned somehow.  
When that ended at ~3 pm, Vert 'talked' with me.  
Then Neptune brought me, Diana and Linda to the guest room, where we talked over a few things.  
That included things like inventory, status screens, skills, HUD, party and some other stuff.

And as it turns out, I and Diana didn't start off at level 1.  
I don't get _*why*_ but I was level 42 and Diana was level 36. Oh. And Linda was level 74.  
So... uh... Note to myself: Don't mess with Linda. Yet. She's simply stronger than us from her encounters with the CPUs in 'former times'.

Then skills: I had 'melee'-combat attacks utilizing a sword.  
Their names are... familiar to me and they mostly have a relatively low hit-count.  
Diana on the other hand had magic-based attacks which don't require any weapon to execute.  
Her skills have a really high hit-count and to top it, she can buff, create barriers and steal HP and SP.

And now to the actual plot.

* * *

We had already woken up and were dressed when Histoire came to our room to get us for breakfast.  
"How was the night? Did you sleep well?" Histoire asked us, already leading us to the kitchen.  
"I guess it was okay." "Yup!" "It was great." Linda, I and Diana said respectively.  
Histoire replied. "That's great to hear." She made a short pause before continuing "Compa has made us breakfast today. I hope you like eggs and bacon."

We were greeted by Compa, IF, Neptune, Nepgear and all the other CPUs at the table... That's a huge-ass table.  
"Mornin'." we greeted them back while we sat down. "Why are you still here? Don't you have like... a nation to rule?" I questioned.  
Blanc gave an answer. "We've got competent oracles..." My eyes darted over to Vert who didn't seem to notice. "...who can do our jobs for a short period of time."  
She paused a little to eat some more. "Besides, it was already late and Rom and Ram wanted to stay here overnight."  
I looked at Noire... "L-like she said." ...then to Vert. "I wanted to talk to you some more."  
"Consider using my definition of 'talk'." I replied stiffly. Vert choked a little on her food at that comment. "...sure..."  
I was considering to ask IF where she went yesterday as she was clearly there when Histoire called the first time, but not when we came through the portal.  
Probably a call from one of her phones, guild-stuff or something personal. Well... I honestly didn't really care.

"You know, it's funny how Underling is sitting at the table, eats with us and nobody even cares." Diana broke the silence again.  
"My name is Linda..." the girl in question grumbled.  
"To be fair, I'm still not comfortable with her. But I guess I can let it slide." Uni replied.  
"She didn't do anything since she returned, did she?" Blanc added dryly.  
"I somehow trust her." Nepgear returned.  
"And she's also on the radar for some reason, so she's kind of on our side." Neptune argued.

Wait... "Speaking of 'she's also on the radar', why?" I realized something nobody even thought about.  
The room fell into silence. For pretty long if I may say so. Even Neptune and the Lowee twins were silent...  
Histoire finally broke the silence. "I'll get in touch with the other Oracles and talk with them about that. All we know right know is that she's connected to Neptune and Nepgear in some form or way."

* * *

Vert dragged me away once more to talk. I hope she's using the correct definition of that word now.  
"CPU Candidate stuff again? Details about that?" I asked her dryly.  
"Yes, of course." Vert replied. "I had a call with Chika yesterday after our conversation. We, for some reason, have a CPU memory in case Plan A doesn't work."  
I'm assuming Plan A is what she suggested yesterday. "That's... uh... great. Any other conditions or offers?"  
"Well, you'll get the all latest consoles,..." Sounds good... "...a high-end gaming computer,..." Sounds good, too... "...but you'll help me with my work." And as expected.

"To be fair... I kinda expected... all of that." I replied before pausing and quickly adding "...except _*all*_ the consoles. But why would I complain."  
Vert seemed cheerful, like she was getting a present. "So, what do you think?"  
"Number 1: Diana is my sister. She should also become one. That's not a problem, is it?" "Well..."  
"Number 2: You'll not address us as your siblings if you talk to us." "That's ok... I suppose..."  
"So, I suppose you'll need to do some more calls now, I gotta talk to Diana about that." "...very well then."  
"See ya around." I finished the conversation and left the room towards the living room.

* * *

So, how do I put it? I could hear screams from three girl, begging for mercy, and something zipping through the air.  
Histoire did call the Ultradimension, right? ... Didn't take a lot more to guess what was going on...

When I arrived at the living room and stepped in, I could see a CPU with purple hair and a whip, presumably Iris Heart, a flipped-over couch and Neptune, Nepgear and my sister behind it.  
"Obsidian Shield!" Diana shouted and instantly a barrier was created... which broke at the next hit of Iris Heart's whip. More screams ensued after that so...  
I decided to act. Attacking a CPU! **GENIUS PLAN!** I drew out my sword and shouted "Terra Blade!" I swung my sword, firing a green energy beam at Iris Heart. She had no time to react, as nobody had noticed me before.  
"Wha-" The attack impacted her and knocked her over the couch. The time it took her to get back up was used by the girls to get behind me.  
"Oh, so you want to take me on? Or do you want to take their place?" The CPU asked me. "Honestly neither," I replied "but I _*love*_ challenges."

She simply smirked and everybody else backed of some more.  
"T. Blade Kick!" "Hell _*no*_! Star Wrath!" As she wanted to start up her EXE Drive, a large amount of glowing projectiles shot towards.  
This skill easily interrupted her... Wait... it did?!  
Additionally, she was knocked over the couch once more at which point a bright light enveloped her.

"That was easier than expected..." I thought.  
"I-is it safe again?" a scared Neptune asked, peaking out from behind the door. "I suppose." I replied.  
We got closer to the couch and as we stood right in front of it, a girl in a... pajama-dress(?), Plutia, shot up, surprising us.  
Well, Nepgear seemed to have a heart attack and collapsed instantly.  
"Whoops, did I do it again?" Plutia asked sleepily. "Almost. Well, you got Jr. here, but that's kinda different." Neptune replied.

"Let me guess, somebody woke you up?" I asked to which she nodded. "Who?" She pointed at Neptune.  
Still my sword in hand, I slapped the purple ditz in question with the flat side of the blade in the face. "Ouch, what was that for?" She yelled.  
I looked at her unamused. "Yeah, yeah, I get it." I put my sword back into my inventory.  
"You seem to be pretty strong, if you can beat a CPU that easily." Plutia argued. "You think so? ... wait, what's your level?"  
"76, why do you ask?" "I was... 42... You might have been tired." "Might have _*yawn*_ been it..."  
And just like that, Plutia fell asleep once more. "Let's... go somewhere else..." Diana suggested. But before we went to another place I picked up Nepgear to carry her.

* * *

Linda was sitting on a bed in the room we had for the time, fiddling with the device I had seen her use on the playground before.  
"Yo, Underling, whatcha doing?" Neptune asked a little too loud. " **WHA!** " Yep, she was too loud, as indicated by Linda almost falling off the bed she sat on.  
" _*sigh*_ Just checking mails and stuff." She replied. I set Nepgear down onto a bed. "And... What happened to her?" Linda asked.  
"Plutia happened." I told her and sat down next Nepgear. Diana and Neptune joined me. "Who- I don't wanna know."

"I almost forgot! Diana, I need to talk with you privately!" I broke the silence that quickly settled in.  
"Yeah, sure, what about?" Diana asked. "I'll tell you once we're in private." "'k then."

* * *

"Yeah, I'm ok with that..." Diana didn't have a lot of things to say against us becoming CPU Candidates of Leanbox.  
"...but I'll break her neck when something 'weird' happens." She added after some silence and a shiver ran down my spine. I knew my sister all too well.  
"Oh my, you're... creepy." Vert had found us. And as it seemed, she also heard the last sentence.  
What's it with people eavesdropping in this dimension?  
"I suppose you accepted?" She asked. "Yup." We told her unison. "...But let's not do that immediately," I added "we have more important matters... or might have."  
"That's wonderful." Leanbox's CPU replied when her phone rang. "Oh, excuse me, would you?" She left the room.  
"Back to the Neps?" I asked Diana. "Yep." She replied.


	11. Chapter 10: To Leanbox

So...  
Blanc, Ram, Rom, Noire and Uni left back to their nation as they (excluding Ram and Rom) had work to do.  
They couldn't leave their Oracles to do everything anyways.  
We were left with Vert, who joined our gaming session by taking forcefully Linda's controller.  
The girl knew better than to attack a CPU so she just went with it and doodled on her phone.  
Good thing was, she brought snacks and drinks for everybody. Wonderful!

"So, Vert, why'd you not leave already?" Neptune finally asked in a short break from gaming and took a sip from her drink. I and Diana had a suspicion.  
"It's... Ah, well, I'll have to tell you anyways at some point." Vert began "I offered Deniz and Diana to became my CPU Candidates."  
Neptune's drink went from her mouth into Vert's face. I'd be surprised, too, but _*that's*_ a little too much.  
"Wha- Why'd you not tell us?!" the CPU of Planeptune asked me. "Uh... Good question! I don't know!"  
While Vert was cleaning herself, Diana asked her another question. "What'd you tell Chika? I don't think she'd be too happy getting less attention."  
"If I'm happy, she is too. Well, at least that's what she told me." she replied. I and Diana just shrugged. I supposed that was true.

* * *

After the gaming session, Neptune decided to inform Histy about Vert's plan. There was not stopping Neptune, so we just followed her.  
"Uh... she wants to do what?!" Histoire's reaction was expectable "I would suppose that is rather a good thing... if they don't mind."  
We unhesitatingly confirmed it. "She asked us and we accepted. Simple as that."  
"Well then, I suppose Vert is taking her leave and takes both of you with her, right?" "Yes, that is correct." Vert answered.  
"Whoa! You're not gonna carry _*both*_ of us on your own!" I said "How would you even do that?!"  
"I'll carry one of you on my back-" "You've got enough back problems." I argued. "I suppose that's true-"  
Nepgear cut her off. She was here? Wow, she was not getting a lot of attention. "I'll help. Besides, I've done my work already."  
"Great, Nepgear. That will also give your sister some time to do hers." Histoire supported the idea.  
"But, Histy..." Neptune tried to say something, but was cut of by the tome. "No 'but', you're gonna do your work. I'll. Make. Sure. Of. It."  
"G'bye!" "Bye!" "We'll be off!" "Later!" I, Diana, Vert and Nepgear hastily gave our good-byes before running off.  
"No, traitors!" Neptune was about to run after us, but was intercepted by IF and dragged away.

Wait... _*Where*_ did IF come from?

* * *

It was not exactly a pleasant ride for me. Not sure whether from the thin air or the fact that I had to close my eyes to not look down.  
When Diana was set down, she almost collapsed. Good thing Nepgear caught her. I, on the other hand, was relatively okay.

"Worst... ten... minutes... of... my... life..." Diana said while regaining her balance. "You'll get used to it. Eventually." Nepgear tried to cheer her up.  
Before I could say anything, Vert hugged me, still floating. "Help me! Can't... breath..." I tried to say, but it came out very muffled. Vert giggled a little from my attempt to say something.  
And then, I lost consciousness...

* * *

Huh? Looks like I didn't suffocate after all.  
When I woke up, I was laying in a bed. A women in black clothes and green, long hair greeted me. Probably Chika.  
"How... long was I out?" I asked her. I sat up and looked around the room I was in. Fancy PC- and Console-Set-up, wall-posters of male anime characters, video game collections, even more merchandise. Yup, Vert's room.  
"Not too long, just about half an hour." Good. I don't wanna miss any news... Right, I haven't introduced myself.  
"By the way, I'm Deniz. Nice to meet you." "Chika Hakozaki, Oracle of Leanbox. So you're the boy, who Vert chose to become the Candidate?" I nodded, got up and took her hand-shake.  
"So, where's everybody?" "In the meeting room." "Could you take me there?" "It would be my pleasure."

She was eyeing me on the way to the meeting room like she didn't trust me...  
"Is... something wrong?" I questioned. "N-no, not at all." "That doesn't really sound promising." I paused a second before I continued. "I suppose you don't know about the dimension I come from?"  
"You're from another dimension?" "Mmhm. One without CPUs, where this world is a video game." "You don't think I'd believe that, do you." "Honestly, no. But you can ask Neptune about it. She was there."  
Silence covered us once more. "You know, we suspect Arfoire is going to return. Possibly targeting that world." I broke the silence once more.  
"Yeah, Vert told me about that, but I didn't think I'd be that different... Ah, we're there!"

We entered the meeting room. And true to Chika's words, Vert, Diana and Nepgear were there, relieved to see I'm okay.  
"If _*that*_ happens again, I'll make sure to smack somebody." I said while looking at Vert. She waved her hands dismissively. "It won't, I'll make sure of it."  
"It. Sure. Won't." Diana added in a deep, threatening voice. "She's... creepy..." I could hear Chika mutter. I and Chika sat down on one of the couches in the room.

Yeah, the room. Mostly green and white walls, a pair couches facing each other, in between of them a coffee table. Looks nice and comfortable.

"We're pretty much done with the preparations and my speech for your announcement as CPU Candidates." Vert said as we sat down.  
"And we made sure Plan B is executable in case Plan A is not enough." I assumed Plan A was announcing us and Plan B was the CPU Memory thing.  
"If all fails, Plan C is still an option..." Vert averted her gaze.  
"We don't want to know, right?" I asked. "Not... really..." "Let's... just hope Plan A is already enough."  
"And what's missing-" I was interrupted by my phone vibrating once. "Uh, sorry, but might be important."

'Wo bist du?' It was a WhatsApp message from my mom... Let me see...  
'Andere Dimension, hast du den Zettel nicht bekommen?'  
'Unsinn, komm nach hause!'  
':( Glaub mir eben nicht. Und geht jetzt grad nicht. Wichtiges Zeug.'  
'Und deine Schwester?'  
'Sitzt neben mir und kommt vorerst auch nicht. Wir sind fast erwachsen, hab etwas Vertrauen in uns.'  
A few second passed without any more replies. Okay, guess she gave up.

At the time I put my phone away, I noticed everybody was looking at me.  
"My- Our mom." I said coolly. "Wondered where we were although we left a message."  
"I suppose that's-" Vert was interrupted as my phone vibrated. " **I COULD FLIP A TABLE!** " I snapped.

I accepted the call and angrily yelled into the microphone as I saw it was my mother " **WHAT?!** "  
"Ich wollte dich hoeren, wissen dass es dir gut geht." I cooled down a little and replied. "Ich... stell dich auf Lautsprecher... Nicht dass dich jemand verstehen wird."  
I took the phone from my ears. "Don't talk about what the plan, nothing about Arfoire, and just act like people I casually know." I told them, they responded by nodding.  
Then I put the call on the speakers and placed the phone on the table.

"Diana, bist du da?" The voice from the speakers asked. "Ja, bin ich." Diana replied annoyed.  
"That's your mother?" Chika asked. "Yes, she is." was my reply. "Wer ist sonst da?" My mother asked again.  
"Ich bin Vert, die andere Stimme geh rt zu Chika. Wir sind Bekannte." Vert answered my mother's question in _*fluid*_ German. We (including Chika) slowly turned our heads towards her, with a questioning look on our faces.  
"What is it?" Vert questioned "Oh, that. I researched a little with the inter-dimensional internet while I was at the Planeptune Basilicom." Aka: I learned a to speak and understand a language in. One. Freakin'. Day.  
Then again, she was a goddess, who was I to question her. She was playing video games _*perfectly*_ while doing her work _*reliably*_.  
"Ehm... Okay. Hallo, W- Ehm... Vert." my mother greeted Vert, completely mis-pronouncing her name.  
"Sonst noch was?" I asked annoyed as well. "Nein, nicht wirklich." "Ciao." I said and gave the others a look that said 'Say good-bye'.  
They did so and I quit the call after that.

"Our mother, ladies." I said, flopping back into the couch.  
"Oh, goodness. It's late, I need to go. Bye!" Nepgear said hastily after checking the clock, quickly leaving the room. We waved our hands.  
And yeah, it's like 5 pm... and I never even had lunch... Nah, I'll survive.

* * *

 **I'M STARVING!**  
Joking.

We just had dinner. Made by the fast-food-restaurant down the road.  
It tasted well, but I had the feeling that Vert eats _*nothing*_ but fast food.  
How did she even keep her figure... Let's not think about that. It was a long day. I was tired and we (I and Diana) were assigned a room to sleep in.  
Let's just sleep and see what was about to happen next...

* * *

 **Translations of the German text in order:**

'Where are you?'  
'Other dimension, did you not get the message?'  
'non-sens, come home.'  
':( Don't believe me then. And not possible right now. Important stuff'  
'Where's your sister?'  
'Is sitting next to me and won't come for now as well. We're almost adults, have a little confidence in us.'

"I wanted to hear you, wanted to know you're well." - "I'll... put you on the speakers... Not that anybody would understand you."

"Diana, are you there?" - "Yes, I am."  
"Who else is there?"  
"I'm Vert, the other voice belongs to Chika."  
"Uhm... Okay. Hello, W- Uhm... Vert."  
"Something else?" - "No, not really."


	12. Chapter 11: 'Exploring' the city

A new day...  
Well, the room was dark and I assumed it was a new day because I woke up.

Anyways. So I woke up with the immediate feeling that I played right into Vert's hands.  
How so? What is Vert's biggest wish? Getting a little sister. Diana could fill that role.  
And while speculative, I suppose she wanted to seduce me first (which kind of failed because I prefer oxygen over... well, anything), and then pull my sister in.  
I agreed anyways and did so. **VERT'S A FREAKING GENIUS**... kinda.

I slowly opened my eyes and took in the surroundings... same green and white room we fell asleep yesterday.  
I and Diana had to share a bed, but that's not a thing we really cared about as it was a large bed.  
Nevertheless, Diana was hugging me in her sleep. This kind of looks bad, as we're both in nothing but our underwear (we thought it's more comfortable like this).  
But we're family and I didn't think anybody would support the stuff that goes further than this. ( **I'M LOOKING AT YOU, TRICK!** )

Ahem... Where was I? Ah, yes. I got out of Diana's grip and stood up. When I noticed the clock, it was almost 10 am, so I shook Diana a little so she would wake up.  
" _*yawn*_... G'Morning... Deniz..." She sleepily greeted me. "Yeah, morning."

* * *

After my sister took the shower first, she was obviously ready earlier than me and went to the kitchen.  
When I got out of the room, I was also heading there.  
"Hey, Deniz!" It was Vert's voice behind me. I turned around and waved her. When she was next to me, I started walking as well again.  
"I was wondering why you didn't want to me to refer to you as my brother." Right, I said something like that... still, I turned my head to her and questioned why she was asking.  
"Oh come on... you know..." She jiggled her breasts... I looked forwards again and quickly waved of her suspicions.  
"No, thanks. If it's about my preference in women, I don't care all too much for their looks. I'm looking more somebody I can share and have fun with."  
Now that I thought about it, that sounded really cliche... well, actually that kind of includes Vert... Gaming 'n stuff.  
"So, you're..." I cut her off again. "Yeah, no. I'm not sympathizing with you that much. For example, I'm sympathizing with a lot Nepgear or Uni."  
"Why is that?" "Their kind of playing second fiddle all the time." I quickly realized that I pretty much said 'everybody is forgetting me and I have no friends' and mentally facepalmed.  
"That sounds like you didn't have a lot of friends back in the other dimension." "That's kinda true. And I was not noticed a lot." Now that I thought about it, that was _*exactly*_ true.  
"But that's now different." I added with a smile on my face.

"That's good to hear and I'm happy about it." "What happened to Chika?"  
What I was referring to, was the mint-haired Oracle laying flat on the floor, unconscious.  
Then we saw Diana standing behind her still in a fighting pose.  
"What did Chika do again?" Vert asked worriedly. "I guess 'violation' would get close to describing it." Diana said, slightly angry, but lowering her arms.  
"..." "..." No response from us. Did I ever mention she had a great bust? No? Well, here you go...

We stepped over the unconscious Oracle into the kitchen where (presumably) Chika had already prepared breakfast.  
"And what did you do?" Diana asked as she smeared butter onto her toast.  
"Well..."

* * *

After the breakfast I and Diana got out to 'explore the city', as we called it.  
'We would need to know the place we would protect and _blah-blah_ ' we said.  
While we would do that, too, we wanted to also get ourselves some reputation. Hopefully a positive one by helping where we can.  
Diana would probably test one of her skills on the first guy that dares to drag her off. A second one wouldn't come after that.

Due to the technical advancement in Leanbox (and pretty much all Gamindustri) compared to our dimension, cars were pretty much obsolete, therefore you would mostly see pedestrians on the street.  
The people that needed to get somewhere quick had other possibilities to travel. We didn't use those as we wanted to explore.  
The first important building we found was the guild. We decided to sign up to the guild (or find out how it worked at least).

As the sliding-doors opened and we stepped in, we were greeted by a woman at the counter. "Hello, you're new at the guild, right?" "Yeah. How does it work?" I replied and asked.  
"Simple, just go up to a computer, accept a quest and take the ejected card. Once you're done with the task, bring it back and put it into the corresponding slot in a computer. You're reward will be dispensed."  
Simple enough. I thanked her. "Thank you. We won't accept a quest yet, but we will make sure to at a later point. Bye then!" "No problem!"  
Then we left the way we came in.

The next thing we noticed was that most shops were along the same alleyway. Weapons, 'armor', accessories, items for various needs, clothing, food etc.  
At the end of said alleyway, there was a park. We decided to go there next and rest for a little.

* * *

We sat there for a while now and it was pretty peaceful. Birds chirping, small animals like squirrels running from tree to tree... It was relaxing to say the least.  
"Hey there, chick." Oh, it was too nice to be true... Some rocker guy was coming our way. "I'm way better than that guy, come rather with me. You're body has it better."  
I gave off a smirk. "Ooooh. You, first of, have the wrong impression of our relation, second of, you might just regret it."  
" **HA!** As if I'd do! Come with me." As he tucked my sister on the arm, she just smirked and kept sitting there.  
" **COME ON!** " That guy was already attracting people. "Dude, why don't you do anything?" somebody questioned me. I just coolly replied. "She can handle that guy herself. Trust me."

"I have enough!" The rocker snapped and grabbed Diana by her arm and pulled her up. Wrong move. "Mess with me, mess with the gods." Diana said as she freed her hand again.  
She pushed him a little, causing him to stumble back a steps due to being caught of guard.  
" **ICHOR!** " She yelled dramatically. She slowly moved up her right arm up her side to stretch it out above her. Then a yellow-transparent liquid gathered above her.  
The rocker seemed to visibly pale a little. The people had already surrounded us, so there was no way he'd escape.  
Once Diana was happy with the amount of ichor she gathered, she flicked her wrist towards the rocker, completely covering him.  
It didn't smell or anything but it looked somewhat disgusting. " **WHAT THE ****!** " he shouted, while I still sat there, smirking and on the inside, laughing.  
"Effect in battle: Lowers your VIT and MEN," Diana said "and since that wouldn't do..." Diana smirk went and her face darkened.  
" **LAST PRISM!** " Oh, no she wouldn't. I frantically got up to stop her from using her EXE Drive and while she was raising her arms and I smacked her on the cheek.  
"Ouch, what is it?!" "Don't you think you're going overboard?" "Oh... ahahaha..." She lowered her arms again, canceling the attack to which booing was heard. "Hey, better than a dead body in a public park." I retorted.  
I sat back down to watch what she was gonna do now. She got dangerously close to him, a smirk on her face again. "I'll spare you," she said seductively "but..."  
She put a finger tip on his mouth and moved her own closer to his. When they were about to meet... " **OUCH! ****, DAMMIT, PEACE OF ****, ******* *****!** "  
Yep, knee to the crotch. Especially with lowered VIT, not the nicest thing to experience. After his... colorful... speech, he dropped down to the ground into a fetal position, clenching the affected area.

The crowd cheered on Diana. "You rock!" "He deserved it!" "The knee!" "Damn~" "Are you related to 5pb. by chance? 'cause you're music to my ears!" The last one was... weird? I dunno.  
I added my claps, although I knew that she had done something like that before. Like more than just once. Or twenty times. The crowd quickly disbanded when I told them we didn't like it to have a crowd surrounding us.  
We were left with the guy still on the ground... and a short girl, with pink hair and a white hoodie... Neptune was here. 'cause why the heck not?

"Hey, switchers*, how ya doin'?" She cheerfully greeted us, as she sat down next to us. I wasn't even surprised that much that she was here. I mean, it *was* Neptune. Diana was neither.  
"We're doing great, how is it going in Planeptune?" Diana replied, emphasizing her point by pointing at the guy on the ground.  
I intercepted quickly "Shares are on a steady level, you're not doing your work and the latter is the reason you're here, so you can escape Histy."  
"Ahahahaha... yeah... 1:0 for you." Neptune sheepishly replied before adding "But I was also gonna talk to Vert because of the things she's doing with Nep Jr.!"  
"Cosplay or video game wise?" I questioned... oh wait. "... video game wise, right?" "Yep. You've got it, buddy! You seem to know me like the back of your hand!"

"Speaking of 'Nep Jr.'..." Diana spoke as she pointed at the CPU Candidate descending from the air.  
"Neptune, you have to do your work!" She said as she landed. " **YOU'LL NEVER GET ME ALIVE!** " Neptune shouted and tried to run...  
I grabbed her, preventing her from doing so. I sighed as Nepgear came closer to pick up her sister.  
"Thank you." She said as she picked up Neptune from my grab and took off with her. " **TRAITORS!** " was all we could hear from Neptune after she took of.

"And we should get back to the Basilicom, it's almost noon." I argued as I looked at my phone for the time once they were out of sight.  
"I agree, I'm getting hungry." Diana replied.  
And with that, we're heading back to the Basilicom.


	13. Chapter 12: Torn down

The afternoon of the last day was pretty uninteresting.  
We saw somebody steal purses and knocked him out... which wasn't difficult as he ran into my the flat side of my sword.  
So our reputation was generally good... Well Chika is afraid of Diana for... reasons that I don't need to mention.  
And Vert was happy we managed to get a good reputation even before we were announced as Candidates.  
... She was probably because it will boost Leanbox' shares a lot... _*sigh*_

Then we wrote our speeches because our announcement was supposed to be soon. Boring stuff you know.  
Well, Diana's was serious, mine was more of a comedic sketch.  
You'll know what I mean.

And I'm _*not*_ talking about lunch. Or dinner.

* * *

So, next day. Wake up, shower, toast and orange juice for breakfast.  
... I was kind of starting to miss my computer.  
Well, I had my iPhone... Jeez... Then again, why had it to be an iPhone? It was definitely not the best, but it did its job... I suppose.  
My phone model aside, I remembered being texted by my mom. So we did have an internet connection... to... do stuff.

"Let's check YouTube... today is Monday, right?" I thought as I opened the YouTube app and scrolled through my subscriptions.  
My face paled when I saw the title of a video. 'Unknown hacker transmits threat all over the world's TV' was the translation from German.  
I trusted the channel, it was a serious one. The description of said video had a link to a recording of that transmission.

Yeah... I would tell Vert about it and to message the other nations.

* * *

Now on a video call using... some program... at Vert's PC with Histoire, Noire, Kei, Blanc and Mina, we had explained the situation that had arisen.  
"We have a week to get a plan and stop them..." Histoire said thinking about it. "Actually if you called me in our dimension at the same daytime, we have slightly less." I threw in.  
"So time there is slightly slower... So let's say we have about 6 days," Kei argued "but still, we don't even know who the person behind all this is..."  
"Then we need to find out where they were broadcasting the message from..." Mina began but I cut her off.  
"Don't state the obvious. Trust me, the USA probably already know and they're thinking it's gonna be a normal terrorist attack, albeit on a larger scale, so they're communicating with the other countries."  
"That or _[insert terrorist group here]_ is thought to be behind it and is gonna be attacked within the next day." Diana threw in.

We paled once more... "H-How about we first stop World War 3, and then get a plan on stopping the evil-doers?" I argued.  
"There were two world wide wars already?" Blanc asked. I just looked at her and said "And _*you*_ fought the other CPUs for centuries, possibly millennia." "Good point." She obviously had nothing to retort.  
"My, let us forget the past and focus on the present," Vert threw in, "so how do you think we would do that?"  
"So... What can we do? Reveal the dimension in 'private' to the most powerful countries and ask them about their plans, then stop them because it's either stupid or pointless, while promising our aid." I said and thought a second.  
"Or... Uhm... one or a group of us goes there, the best would be at least one CPU, and demand a meeting with the most powerful people. Then convince them, their plans will most likely fail and that we had the ways of stopping them but needed their location."

My plans brought silence with them, everybody think about the options.  
"Plan A would definitely be convincing," Noire argued, "but how do we know they won't attack us then? Plan B might not convince them without telling them about the dimension, but then we'd be back at Plan A."  
"Yes, we can't risk a attack..." Kei said, but I cut her off once again. "What ways are there to defeat a CPU? Nevertheless 8 at once?"  
Silence... "Besides enormous brute force and anti-crystals, nothing." Kei replied. "Bingo. Besides, they _*can't*_ establish a portal." I added.  
"Still, let's go with Plan B first. If that fails we can use Plan A." Noire sought the end of this conversation.  
"And if all fails," I added, "we'll go for Plan C." "Plan C?" Vert asked. "You don't wanna know."

* * *

At the end, we decided that Diana and Noire went. Diana could, in case something happened, 'eliminate' threats without force.  
Aka, she could make people fall asleep. Like sleep-sleep. For just a couple minutes.  
And Noire was the most level-headed CPU. Tsundere but level-headed.

Then we set the coordinates, which would be just behind the other walls of the White House.  
Yup, we were breaking into the White House. Sounds like a good idea, doesn't it?  
No matter what, they stocked up on healing items. Safe is better than sorry, right?

Just ignore what I'm saying, Histoire was already at creating the portal.  
Diana and Noire as well as Vert were already at Planeptune.  
And Vert was there just because she carried Diana.

And what would Diana do? I dunno.  
She would probably tell us, when she returned.

* * *

As I was watching YouTube videos on my phone once again, the same program from earlier forced me into a video call once more.  
Histoire and Vert, Uni and Kei, Blanc and Mina appeared on the screen.

"What is it?" I asked.  
"We successfully brought them to your dimension." Histoire explained "And while they're gone, we can discuss the plan."  
Oh, boy... I had no idea how this was gonna turn out.

* * *

It was late evening already when Vert returned with Diana, the video call long done, a plan established.  
"So, what did you do?" I asked excitedly.  
"So..." I was getting ready for a slightly longer story...


	14. Chapter 13: Shattered

_***And Diana told Deniz and Vert the things that happened***_

 _ ***Diana's POV***_

"Almost done, should only be a few minutes." Histoire told me and Noire. The tome was currently in the process of establishing a portal.  
"Meh, why can't I go?!" Neptune asked annoyed. She found the room. Great. Just great...  
"You're irresponsible and straight up too much of an airhead." Noire argued.  
"But Histy..." "No, Neptune. **IF! NEPGEAR!** " Histoire called for those two and they were here immediately.  
"Get Neptune away and keep her away at all costs. This is important." "We will lock the door and chain her." IF said that and took Neptune out of the room.  
"No! **TRAITORS!** "

What the hell?

A few minutes later, without many more words, the portal was done.  
Noire activated her HDD and disabled her wings and sword. "This was part of the plan, right?"  
We nodded. Then my face went slightly sad. "And Histy," I began my sad face disappearing more and more, "if something happens to us..."  
I couldn't keep serious saying that and broke out in laughter. "Gosh, as if something would happen, we've got magic and healing items and magic-infused healing items. What the hell can happen?"  
"Don't forget the barrier." Noire chimed in. Ah, yes. A small ring, you could put on one of your fingers. It would summon a shield if you stretched out your hands.  
"I will keep contact." Histoire said. "Be safe."  
"I will wait for your return." Vert added.  
We nodded once more, and with that, went through the portal.

* * *

The White House was before us.  
We landed in a grass patch, not too far away from the path towards the building. And inside the outer walls of course.  
"Just use the straight path, it's the least suspicious." "Won't they see us?" "We want to meet the president anyways." I stared her blank in the eye. "A-Ah, r-right."  
So we walked onto the path and were noticed by a guard. "Halt! Who are you?"  
Keep cool, Diana. Noire responded "We want to meet the president." "That does not answer my question. Who are you?" He unholstered a hand-gun from his belt.  
Oh, I wanna show off. I raised my hands, but with that movement I used my magic to drag his weapon with my hands. Then I flicked my right wrist backwards, to which the gun flew towards and caught it with my left hand.  
I dematerialized the weapon and stored it in my inventory. He could just watch in horror as I did that.

"Now to answer your question, I'm Noire, Lady Black Heart, and this 'magician' is called Diana." Noire said boredly. I'm a little surprised. Well, actually what could intimidate her?  
"W-What did y-you just do?" The guard asked, shaking slightly. "Oh, nothing. You can have it back later. But we wanna see the president first."  
I made a pause and added "I can't let you disappear the same as I did with the weapon." "W-What are you?" "I'm just a girl." I replied calmly.  
"See, we're in hurry and we need to talk to 'Mr. President'. Right. Now." Noire was beginning to get angry. She wanted to take a step forwards, but I held her at her shoulders and shook my head slightly.  
"Can you get us to the president?" I asked calmly. "Uh, n-no, I can't leave my position." "Can you get us somebody to do that?" "Uh, y-yes, just a second."  
He got out a device and pressed a few buttons. "What is it?" asked the voice. " **WE'RE BEING ATTACKED!** " he yelled back.

We were dumb-folded for a second or two. I used the same trick on the device as with his gun, cancelled the connection and dematerialized it as well.  
"Wrong move," I said grimly, "but we ain't terrorists or murderers. We're here for the safety of the entire world, we have the only way to stop the approaching threat."  
I paused. "Force Rest." I pointed my finger at him and he fell asleep instantly.

"Let's move." I said relaxed. "H-how can you be so relaxed about this? **T-THEY THINK WE'RE TERRORISTS!** " Noire yelled at me.  
"And I'll just put them all fall to sleep. This is not a heist, we're not killing or kidnapping anybody."

We opened the door to the building and were greeted by a guy with a machine gun and heavy armor.  
"Don't move! Just raise your hands!" "'k" I said, raised my hands, took his machine gun, and stored it in my inventory.  
"We're not armed. We're not terrorists." Noire tried to reason, having her hands raised as well.  
" **THEY'RE NOT ARMED! DON'T TELL THEM TO RAISE THEY'RE HANDS! THEY...** WILL... dis...arm... you..." "Force Sleep." Never expected a magician, huh?  
Well, obviously, he fell asleep as well.

Right behind the door was a straight corridor which would split up in two directions. Guess who was waiting behind the corners. Yes, a group of ten guards each.  
" **HALT!** You're surrounded. Surrender!" "We have no reason to surrender as we're attacking." I said and casually moved towards one of the guards, while getting Noire to follow me.  
"Open fire!" It shouted from behind. I stretched out my hands in front of me, summing the barrier and blocking the incoming barrage shots from the front. Noire did the same in the opposite direction.  
Not a second too late as it seemed, as the guards immediately began firing their weapons. At our barriers.  
After a few seconds and a hell of bullets, the repeated clicking signaled us that they didn't have any ammunition left.  
"What a waste of resources." I said and just continued walking towards the same guards. As I did, he raised his hands and dropped his gun.  
And with him, all the other guards did, too. Wimps. What was I gonna do? I was still unarmed.

"You see, we just wanted to talk to the president, but were attacked. By you and your friends. Who is at fault?" I argued as I stopped in front of the guard.  
"As I said, we're no terrorists. We want to help!" Noire added. "Just show us where the president is. Not like we would hurt you or anything."  
The guard in front of us lowered his hands and spoke "What did you do..." I cut him of. "They sleep and should be awake in a few minutes."  
"Then, let me get you to the president." "Thank you." Noire took up on the offer and I decided to do as well.  
"Would you mind telling everybody that is was false alarm?" "You still broke in here, technically you still broke the law."  
"Because getting inside the walls, not threatening anybody or breaking anything, and walking through a open door is illegal." Noire retorted.  
The guard had no more arguments, sighed, pulled out one of those communication devices and told everybody it was false alarm.

"Here we are." We stopped in front of a large, fancy, wooden door. "The president is in here."  
"Thank you." we said and stepped through the door.  
"Hello, Mr. President of the United States of America, I'm Diana." I greeted the person at the chair, staring at us with a confused expression as we came into the room.  
"Hello, and I'm Noire, also known as Lady Black Heart." Noire greeted him as well and added. "And we're sorry for the slight chaos we caused. If necessary, we will cover any costs." She bowed politely.  
"Hello, what is it? I'm busy with the international threat. What would you need that's more important than that?"  
"Prevention of WW3, safety of all world, and add the threat to our list." I told him flatly.

He gave me an annoyed stare and motioned us to sit down. "Details." He demanded.  
The first thing I did was present the inventory system to him, by unstoring the guns I picked up and put them on the table. His eyes almost bulged out as I did.  
"I suppose that's enough prove that _*we*_ have more advanced technology than you do." I explained my actions. "Who is _*we*_?" He asked.  
"I'm sorry, but that exceeds your status." Noire answered dryly.

" **AAAANYWAYS** ," I cut off any possible response before this escalated, "imagine this level of technology as weapons. Or more."  
His interest immediately seemed to peak. I stood up once more and handed him the hand-gun. Then I stretched out my hands, summoning the barrier once more.  
"Shot it." I told the president. He did so, slightly hesitant, and the barrier simply absorbed the bullet, like it did every other.  
I disabled the barrier and sat back down. "This thing could probably stop a tank." Noire explained and handed him a copy. "And I mean, trying to run over you."  
"You can keep it, we can easily produce these things. Think of it as a present." He put the ring on and mimicked my hand movement.  
"Interesting, I will let somebody look into that..." "Pointless. You won't be able to reproduce it." Noire cut off his train of thought.

"Also, what's with this outfit?" This is gonna take some time.

* * *

"Well, that was a nice story girls, now let me actually do my work." He completely waved of the things we told him about who this enemy probably was and simply took a sip from his tea.  
I whispered to Noire. "Noire?" She whispered back. "Yes?" "Full HDD." "Are you serious?" "Dead serious. He won't believe it otherwise." "Okay, you're to blame if it goes wrong."  
Noire materialized her sword and wings and floated up. "This ain't technology, silly. I'm a goddess, and I will do whatever it takes to stop you." She pointed her sword down at the president.  
She lowered her sword again and blushed slightly. "S-Sorry. It became kind of a habit."

The president stood up and walked around Noire. She was blushing as he eyed her. "S-Stop staring at me!"  
"Oh, sorry. How does that even work?" " **I'M A GODDESS, IDIOT!** " Her face turned even redder than before.  
"Aka, she can single-handedly rip apart your entire army if you sent it against her." I explained like it was something one would do everyday.  
"I don't want confirmation on that. And what exactly do you mean by 'goddess'?" "I'm centuries, possibly millennia old and have super-human abilities!"  
He was dumbfounded. "Want a prove? Shot the gun at me!" Okay... that might have been a little extreme, Noire.  
The president hesitated, but she gave him an annoyed, angry look, so he did it anyways. The bullet barely even fazed her.  
"Shall I point out the magic part by setting a house a mile away on fire?" I joked, laughing, but then became serious. "I could do it."  
The president was not amused. "Uhuhu... No, thanks. I'll take your word." "Good. Just don't get in our way. We will need to get a plan ourselves to stop them." Noire said.  
"Did you pick up where the signal was coming from?" I asked then. It was obvious what signal I meant. The president quickly pulled a world map out from under his desk and pointed at 0°N, 0°E. "It was roughly here."  
"Thank you for your time. I wish you farewell." I said as I stood up. Surprisingly, Noire completely disabled her HDD and dropped to the ground exhausted.  
"That... was... too... long..." She said, out of breath. I helped her up.  
"Wh- The... uh... goddess story?" The president asked once more.  
"Yes, that. We will probably meet again. So tell your guards." As he nodded, I and Noire left the room.

"Histy, we're done. Get us back." I said into the small communicator Histoire has given us.  
"I will, just a second." Histoire's voice from the communicator said. And about a second later, we were already stepping through the portal.


	15. Chapter 14: Connected

New day.  
New worries.

Vert had set our announcement today, and we wouldn't wanna move it because of something we (I, Diana and Vert) wouldn't be a great help in anyways.  
Chika would simply do that... Now that I think about it, where has she been yesterday?

 _ ***Yesterday***_  
"Nope, no way I'm even getting close to that girl! NOPE, NOPE, NOPE!"  
Chika yelled at Vert who wanted to get her for the conversation.  
" _*sigh*_ Well then..."  
 _ ***Back to current time***_

Meh, who am I to care 'bout Chika. She's... obsessed with Vert. Possibly in any way possible, but I'm (not) sure about that.  
Well anyways, there was a stage used for the live-performances near the Basilicom. I'm sure it was usually used by 5pb., I don't think Vert usually had that many things to announce.  
So here we are, back-stage, waiting for Vert to go on the stage and announce us. Nobody in public actually knew what she would announce here other than it was 'of highest importance'. And of course 5pb. would come. Everybody would come for 5pb.

When I peaked through the curtains, I could see the stadium already filled to the brim with people. One of the event-managers came up to us shortly afterwards.  
"We're done with the preparations, Lady Green Heart. You're good to good." "Thank you very much."  
And with that, she went out to the stage. We stayed back-stage for now as we would come out only when she said called us.

"Welcome citizens of Leanbox. I called you here for a very special occasion.  
We had waited for it a very long time, yet nothing seemed to happen, there weren't any signs of it ever happening either.  
I'm obviously talking about the lack of Leanbox's CPU Candidate. But the waiting has ended.  
As of late, I found the perfect people to fill in this long missed role.  
They have already been helping people during their short stay, on their own will, because _*they*_ wanted to."  
Vert turned slightly away from the crowd to point towards the curtain.  
"Diana, Deniz. Would you please come out and greet the citizens of our nation?"  
That was our moment. As we came out of the curtains, the crowd cheered and clapped furiously.  
"We get two?!", "A boy, that's unique!", "They're cute!" along with other comments could be heard.

Vert set down the microphone.  
I motioned Diana to start as my speech would ruin any and all mood Vert had built up to.  
So Diana picked up the microphone with a determined face and began.  
"Hello, citizens. My name is Diana. I'm originally from another dimension, vastly different from this one.  
We have no CPUs there, no accurate signs of the existence of gods, and more war than you'd want."  
She paused for a second to regain her breath.  
"Well, the only 'real' war here was fought between four people and it ended in a peace treaty.  
That war might have sparked the competition between the nations and might actually have been something good.  
War in our world never seemed to have a positive result, millions died, and in the end, nobody had a real advantage.  
But we're over that and I, no we, will do anything to prevent anything like that here from ever occurring."  
Diana set down the mic as well. At that point the crowd cheered loudly.

When the cheers calmed down, I picked up the microphone with a wide grin.  
Well, this is gonna be fun.  
"Hello, citizens of Leanbox. I'm Deniz, Diana's brother and therefore originally from the same dull dimension as well.  
I came here in the hope of this dimension being more interesting. Well, if 'interesting' means 'busty women assaults you day 1', it sure is."  
A couple of laughs emanated from the crowd.  
"Well then, the CPUs seem to be popular enough, that they make it into the video games of a dimension, in which this dimension is not known to actually exists.  
Whether that is good or not, decide for yourself."  
I paused a second.  
"Speaking of CPUs, I've got to say something about them in order of their popularity.  
Let's start with White Sister Ram." The crowd immediately became silent. "What is it? I never said I started at the top!" Once more, the people gave of a laugh.  
"She's not that old. Physically at least. But she does her job: Raising shares. But on a personal level, she's *really* annoying.  
Then her sister is next up, White Sister Rom. Same goes for her, except, she's not annoying but instead seems to care for everybody, while still a little shy.  
That our dear CPU of Leanbox is next might surprise you though." There were audible surprised gasped... Really? Leanbox had the least shares out of all nations...  
"Well, doesn't surprise me. Vert's aka Green Heart's personal time is 'play 4-Goddesses Online 24/7'. The only reason she even sleeps is to be rested for the next raid."  
Chuckling could be heard once more, while Vert seemed to not care.  
"And on a positive note: She still manages to do her job properly. I'd like to fill paperwork while gaming, too. Would safe a bunch of time.  
So then, who's next... ah, White Heart, Blanc. I'm not saying anything about her: I wanna live." A giant laughter broke out... huh, didn't think it was that funny.  
"And now, we're getting to the point, CPUs are more popular than a certain high-ranked guild member. _*cough* *IF* *cough*_  
It's gonna be a little bit more personal now, as I either spent a little time with them, or I can relate." "Aww..." "Guys, not _*that*_ kind of time. Like, 'same house-hold for 4 days'." I joked.  
"Anyways, Black Sister, Uni, I suppose your attitude got you behind Nepgear in the ranking. Have a little more faith in yourself, your sister really appreciates what you do.  
You're at least as good as Noire. And don't become her: Have fun in life." "Aww yeah..." "Get your heads out of the gutter." I said with a deadpanned expression.  
"Next up is the last CPU Candidates. Purple Sister, Nepgear. You can do everything you want. You might not become everything you want, as you have to help administrate your nation.  
And _*stop*_ spoiling your sister! She's not worth the time. She might make your life more enjoyable, but _*you*_ can do that, in your own way."  
"Somebody likes Nepgear!" "I'm admitting that. Now go away and leave me alone. Vert has rubbed off on you. And that's not really a good thing in my book." I sighed.  
"And then Nepgear's sister. Purple Heart, Neptune. I have three words for her human form: Pudding. Obsessed. Airhead. But dare taking her pudding away and feel her rage!" I emphasized the statement and swinging my arms comically, causing a little laughter.  
"This trait is so extreme, it's the only trait she carries over to her HDD. Other than that, her HDD is serious to the point of intimidating to all the CPUs, even White Heart. In short: Don't mess with Nep-Nep." Comical nickname in unfitting situation: Check.  
Then I heard somebody crash into the ground behind me. When I turned around, I saw the CPU, I had just spoken about, smashed into the ground, barely having missed Vert.  
"Well, and this is how she usually enters." I started laughing myself, as did the crowd. "Woah, not nice, dude." Neptune said before being dragged of by the personal. " **NOOOOOO! LET ME GO!** " She yelled.  
"Neptune, Ladies and Gentlemen." I recollected my composure.  
"So where were we? Ah, yes. I was gonna talk about the final CPU in the list, Black Heart, Noire. Or in Purple Heart's words _'Popular Heart'_ because she is more popular than her.  
She scored highest in the popularity poll, so what the heck. Her motto is 'We only do everything'. I'm not gonna doubt it. But that isn't necessarily a good thing. Ever heard of _'fun'_ , Lady Noire?  
'cause the 'F' in fun is for friends who do stuff together. The only people you could consider your friends are the other CPUs, who you don't, and your sister, who doesn't count.  
Amirite, _'Lonely Heart'_ , as a certain ditz who is currently back-stage would say." I paused a second to hear mumbling from the crowd.  
"Speaking of your sister, be more easy on her. And do stuff with her. You might have 'fun', but that's a good thing.  
And with that, I'm done with everything. You rock guys!" I pumped my fist into the air and added.  
"Well, except the dude, who was beaten into a pulp by my sister. You're awful.

Thank you everybody. Next up, 5pb!"

I put the mic down and was returned with a massive amount of cheers and I think a surge of power...  
And as we left the stage, avoiding the Neptune-shaped hole, 5pb. came across us, hyped up for the concert she was about to give. I'm sure I'll meet her later on again, so I'll just let her be for now.

* * *

"So, how was I?" I was the only person to even dare ask the question.  
"Great!" IF came in... "When did you get here?" I questioned.  
"I was there the entire time, I listened to everything, and while I'm not a fan of comedy, you were honest and that's good enough."  
IF paused a second before turning to Diana and Vert. "And you were great, too, of course."

She paused a few more seconds before realizing a certain detail in my speech.  
"Am I actually more popular than half of the CPUs?" "In my dimension at least. And to be fair, I'd agree as much as I agree that Vert has the worst personality of all the current CPUs."  
"That is not true, I have a great personality!" Vert disagreed. "Ok, I will say it the way even you understand:"  
I paused and breathed in. "'Blanny' is more likely to be chosen as a waifu than you are. Deal with it." I put on a pair of sun-glasses I had bought two days ago.  
While I was not sure how Vert was gonna react to that fact, she was at least silent to think about it a little more.  
"Hmm, I wonder why?" She asked herself quietly, before turning around and leaving the room silently in thought.

"Any idea, whether that plan of Vert worked?" Diana asked me and IF. "You know, the Candidate part?"  
"I can only assume you'd get new options in your HUD or something. I'm not a CPU, you know." IF said.  
I followed the suggestion, opened my HUD and checked my equipment screen. Sure enough, it displayed slots for the processors, and they were filled in with ones not seen in the games.  
"Vortex Green processors..." I whispered. "Mine are called Nebula Clear." Diana added. So it worked for her as well.  
My status screen had also the option to toggle forms. But I had no intent of doing that now.

Oh wait... "Nebula _*Clear*_?" I asked curiously. At that point, IF had perked up as well.  
"Don't they usually have a color in that place?" Diana seemed to have realized where we are getting at.  
"Gosh, this is turning into a cliche fanfic," she joked, "whatever, we're still officially the CPU Candidates of Leanbox."  
"Any idea what that means?" I questioned the elephant in the room.  
"I will ask Histoire on my way back to Planeptune. Taking Nep with me." IF offered. "I will call you back then."  
"Thanks, IF."


	16. Chapter 15: Back to Planeptune

After IF left to Planeptune (supposedly), we decided to listen to 5pb. live on stage.  
Just because Vert needed some time for herself and we... well, we like music.  
... oh, right th-... Ah, that can wait.

* * *

Roughly an hour later, it was early afternoon already, 5pb. ended the concert and the cheering crowd slowly left.  
We, obviously, left as well. It was almost wondrous how nobody noticed the new CPU Candidates standing in the crowd.  
Somebody should have noticed us, right?

The Basilicom was not far away, as I probably mentioned already, so we only had a short walk.  
"We're back, any news?" I asked Vert, who was passing by the main-entrance as we came in.  
"Well, not from here. But Histoire messaged me about a news articles from your dimension. Something about _'False alarm in White House'_ , _'Goddess meets President'_ , _'We can't do anything, the president of the USA says'_."  
I let out a relieved sigh because this meant, that the plan was a success. "Preventing WW3: Success. Besides that, the CPU Candidate announcement had worked as well." Diana voiced my thoughts in reply.  
"That's wonderful... But why didn't our shares rise?" Vert asked, slightly confused about. "If I had to guess, it was probably my speech which mocked all the CPUs and Candidates." I said.  
Silence...

"Did you try activating HDD yet?" Vert asked all of the sudden.  
"No." "Nope." We answered. "Why not do it now then?"  
"Yeah, why not. Well then. 3... 2... 1..." I counted down slowly and shot Diana a short look.

" **ACCESS!** " I and Diana shouted in sync, while raising our right hands and looking up.  
Why did we do the latter? 'cause it looks cool. That's why.  
We were engulfed in a bright light for a couple of seconds.  
During that time, it felt like something was burning into my left hand. I just shrugged it off.  
When the light dimmed down once more, our looks had changed.

I had a dark-green sleeveless shirt and a black belt running from my left shoulder down to the left of my waist, on both my back and front.  
I also wore a pair of black shorts with a green lining on the other sides.  
My shoes had a black base and a green lining running down on the outer sides. The lining became darker on towards the back of the shoes.  
My hands were covered in black finger-less gloves up to my wrist.  
Then I looked back to check my wings. They had an animated look to it, almost like fire, but in the same dark-green as my shirt. Their general shape could be described as phoenix wings.  
My weapon... was still a generic sword. The metal was tinted slightly green, but that was it.

Then I looked over to Diana... Hyperdimension needs fan-service CPUs... I guess.  
She had a white, glittering dress that went down up to her ankles and wrists.  
The thing is... it was slightly transparent.  
Underneath you could see a bra and panties that looked a lot like what Nepgear wears in her HDD.  
She had a fitting pair of long, white, glittering gloves on both her arms.  
Her boots looked a lot like mine, except that the base was white as well and the lining was just barely visible, because it was a light gray.  
And her wings... I would describe them as 'magical butterfly wings'... or something.  
She still didn't have any weapon, though I could see energy flowing from her hands... That might be dangerous.

And there we stood... uh, no, floated in front of Vert, who was looking really excited. Like, way too excited.  
Diana was meanwhile still looking at her dress. I might be her brother, but I would have to say, that's looking really good on her.

Oh, wait... Is her dress...? Yeah actually, her dress is slowly tinting in a green. The lining on her shoes and her wings reflect that change as well.  
"I kinda look more like the CPU Candidate of Leanbox this way." Diana muttered just loud enough for us to hear.  
I thought about what just happened for a second. "Do you think this is why the processors are named Nebula Clear?" I questioned.  
Just as I asked, my question was about to be answered by a call Vert received. "It's IF... Hello, IF. What is it?"  
We could not understand what IF said, but Vert nodded and hummed a little. "Thank you, IF. I will tell her."  
With that, Vert shut down her phone and turned to Diana.  
"Well, looks like you _*are*_ special. IF said, that Histoire found out, that you will connect to the closest Sharicite and your clothing will reflect that."  
"... So I'm not technically a CPU Candidate of Leanbox?" Diana asked. "...Uh... probably... But officially you're our CPU Candidate."

We disabled our HDDs and I noticed my left hand.  
I felt a burn there when I activated the HDD before.  
A small, thin circle with a thick 'X' on the inside, connecting to the circle on all ends.  
Diana seemed to have experienced something similar. Except her insignia was on the right hand and the circle contained a 'C'.

* * *

As I suspected, the event in Leanbox was broadcasted live to TVs (or whatever they had) all across Gamindustri.  
But what I didn't expect was all the CPUs having seen the event. We (the CPUs, Candidates and Oracles) met in Planeptune, as we wanted to discuss the plans in person.  
But... uh... Ram was angry, Rom was shying away more than she usually did, Blanc was slightly angry (Help me!), Nepgear and Uni were flustered and Noire...  
Uh... Noire... gave me the look she usually gave Neptune.

"Noire, you can now stop looking at me like that." I said flatly as we sat at the conference table.  
"But you told a bunch of lies about me!" Noire yelled back at me angrily, while I was not fazed at all by her outbreak.  
"What exactly was a lie? Disprove anything I said." Noire closed her eyes and opened her mouth to say anything, while also raising her finger.  
A couple of seconds in silence, Noire opened her eyes, and slowly lowered her finger. When she was done with that she closed her mouth as well.  
"I-I admit defeat." She grumbled to herself, yet everybody could hear her. She was now blushing in embarrassment.

"You know, it could have been worse." " **LIKE WHAT?!** "  
"I could have told the whole world what you do in private." She went silent immediately.  
"May I say something?" Kei entered our conversation. "Our shares are at a high since that event."  
Noire covered her face in her hands, even more embarrassed by that turn of events. I would love to be able to read minds.

"So... Uhm..." I thought a second about saying something to Blanc, Rom or Ram, but I decided to not take the risk of dying.  
Then I turned to Nepgear and Uni. "I suppose I should talk to you next. I'm not sure what exactly made you, Uni, flustered, but I'm sure it had to do with me."  
They looked at me, the one in purple discouraged, the one in black annoyed. "H-How about we do that in private?"  
A short silence followed, I still looked at them hopeful. "No talking you out of it, huh? Well then. Come on, Nepgear." Uni said suddenly, stood up and motioned Nepgear to come.  
"Ok..." Nepgear wasn't really sure how this would end. As I stood up I said "You don't really need us here anyways, right? We'll be right back."

I used the short walk to Nepgear's room to ask her a questioned that nagged me a little.  
"So, how's Linda doing anyways?" Nepgear was slightly staggered by the question but answered eventually. "Sh-She's fine. She s-settled in nicely." Huh, so she's still here in the Basilicom.  
I should visit her afterwards.

* * *

We arrived quickly at Nepgear's room.  
We all sat down on the couch that was waiting in the room.  
"Who wants to start with telling me what's wrong?" I questioned them. Silence filled the room once more before Uni answered "I-I do, s-somebody has to anyways."  
"Well then. What is it?" I said, shrugging off her stuttering. "I-it was just kind of embarrassing..."  
"What exactly?" "That... that you're right..." That was a little surprising.  
"And what reason is that to be embarrassed? Just fix it and you're good. I don't really have a lot more to say than that." Uni only nodded in slight agreement.

I turned to Nepgear. Well, actually, from my perspective she sitting behind Uni, but whatever. "What is bothering you?"  
"I-I-I-" Nepgear stuttered "I d-don't know..." Nepgear looked to the ground. She was looking really sad for some reason.  
"Uni, would you mind if I sat next to her?" "Uh, no." Uni replied and stood up so I could sit next to Nepgear. She then sat down where I was sitting before.  
I put an arm onto Nepgear's shoulder. "You know, I'm honest. I would only lie when my life depended on it." I wasn't sure if that would help, but I can try.  
"Y-You know, i-it kind of s-sounded l-like I c-could do n-nothing on m-my own..." Nepgear sobbed all the while. I really can't see her like that, her sadness is almost contagious.  
"W-What I actually meant, was that you underestimate yourself. You're always the second choice, no matter what. And I can't stand that attitude. You are very capable. If it wasn't for you, Gamindustri would not exist anymore."  
She looked up to meet my eyes. "You united the Candidates during the time with ASIC, saved your sisters and destroyed the Deity of Sin. And if you'd ask me, you'd be a better CPU than Neptune."  
"N-no, Neptune is a great CPU... I can't stand up to her..." ...If I'd formulate it the way I want, I'll utterly destroy the mood. Well then.  
"Please. When did Neptune do anything productive the last time? The most productive thing I have seen her ever do was speed-running a video game."  
"She... uhm... But she's making the citizens happy and protects them..." Wow, she's depressed on so many levels.  
"Sorry, but you're really underestimating yourself if you think you couldn't do that, too. You have way more capabilities than you think and I would know, trust me."  
She looked backed at me and smiled. She sat straight up and responded. "You know what, you're right. I can do it. I don't need to rely on my sister! I'm as good as her. Thank you."

I turned to Uni once more. "How about you get the same straight attitude as Nepgear. Seems to be healthy." I joked.  
"I-I know that I'm as good as my sister." Keep telling yourself that.  
"Well then, you can return, I want to meet Linda first. It has been some time." I told them and stood up.  
They stood up after me. "Yeah, you're right." Uni said and left the room.  
Nepgear was still here. "Thank you once more." she said quietly and kissed me on the cheek.  
My reaction was to freeze in place, surprised. I definitely did not expect that. She chuckled and left the room upon seeing me like this.  
... Did I trigger a flag or something? Well, better this way than a depressed Purple Sister.

Right... I was gonna visit Linda.

With that thought, I left the room as well and went towards the guest room.


	17. Chapter 16: Linda, Plan and Nepgear

The guest room was right across.  
Just open the door, say 'hi' to Linda, ask how's it going, and join the others once more.  
'Yeah, that will do' I thought.

The thing was, right after I had opened the door and had asked for her, she already knocked me over in a hug.  
"God damn! You're still a bunch of levels higher than me! Don't just do that!" I shouted at her, and she stood up.  
"Yeah, sorry. I kinda missed you. Nobody had _*ever*_ helped me before." She apologized.  
"You mean, besides Neptune, Nepgear, Histoire, the Basilicom staff and the rat?" "Uh... right..."  
Now that I took a look at her, she had exchanged her usual clothes for Planeptune styled clothes.  
So she was wearing a white formal shirt with purple linings and purple pants with white linings.  
... Why did this seem so familiar?

"Uh, Deniz, you okay? You're spacing out." Linda snapped me out of my thoughts.  
"Uh... yeah, sorry for that. A thought came across my mind. It's not important though." I waved off her worries.  
She seemed to be more polite than I remembered her as well. Must have been Histoire's doings.  
"So, how are ya doin'?" I asked her casually. "I'm fine, I had to start helping with the paperwork at some point because the Oracle wouldn't let me live here if I did nothing."  
"So then, I'm fine as well. Vert had turned me and Diana into her CPU Candidates. You might know that already if you saw the broadcast."  
"Yeah, I sure did. Even Histoire watched it. _*Although*_ I did not expect that to work."  
"Nah, it worked. We flew here ourselves." "Well, that's great news. ..." I could not understand the last thing she mumbled, shouldn't be too important anyways.  
"Anyways, I gotta join the others again. See ya around!" "Bye then!"

Wow, she did a 180 in her personality. Histoire can have a lot influence... Actually, she always has had a lot influence.

* * *

IF and Compa eventually joined in the conference and at some Linda at least listened to us. She was kind of involved anyways.  
And hurray for 5 hour conversations, leading to a simple plan.  
The plan was as follows:  
Neptune, Noire, Blanc and Vert would stay in Gamindustri in their respective nations in case the threat against earth is a distraction.  
Nepgear, Uni, Ram, Rom, I and Diana on the other hand would go to earth, look up the hidden base of the evil mastermind and infiltrate it.  
And with infiltrate, I meant 'use-the-kids-as-distraction' tactic while we use an air-vent (or any other way to get inside).  
You might think "But won't they be in danger?" Well, Ram had the idea herself and Rom agreed. Plus, they were stubborn.  
As soon as we would be in, we would stealth around, avoiding guards and killing the ones that happened to see us. Putting them to sleep wasn't a option this time.  
Once we found the mastermind, we would capture him and bring him back to Gamindustri.

There was no way it could work flawlessly. We probably wouldn't even be able to infiltrate it properly and instead kill everybody we see.  
But that was just Plan B. Plan C would have been _"F*** this s***!"_ and evacuate the important people to Gamindustri.  
Plan C would still leave 7 billion people to die. So... Plan A or B must work. One of them must.

We were still sitting at the table, discussing small details, such as telling the president of the USA about the plan (Noire would do that) and what we should take with us.  
That, obviously, included a lot of water, as the base seemed to be located in the Sahara, which is, in case you for some reason don't know, a large sand desert.  
Additionally we needed warm clothing for the nights. If we needed it. But better safe than sorry.  
And we had spare barrier-rings. Just in case.

Meanwhile, Nepgear seemed to be permanently looking at me. Whenever I took a glance towards her she would blush. It was a wonder how nobody even noticed. Except Neptune. She did for some reason.  
Nepgear was also relatively quiet during the entire conference, only occasionally nodding to agree.

"Any other things worth mentioning?" Histoire asked a last time. Everybody kept silent, some shook their head.  
"Well, then. The plan is settled. We will proceed in two days. Tomorrow Deniz and Diana will need some more training."  
Oh. Wow. I forgot. Neither me nor Diana really ever fought. I got a little experience from the 'fight' with Iris Heart and my sister got some from the rocker and the US-guards.  
But that was it.  
I raised my hand. "Who would do that? Or how would we do that?"  
Histoire thought a second about it, but Kei interrupted her thought process. "You could go to the coliseum. No risk of permanent injuries, you still get experience and add some additional loot and credits."  
And we wouldn't be charged. I nodded... but... "Wouldn't it be more effective if somebody helped us defeating monsters above our level to speed up the process?"  
"I'll help!" Nepgear basically yelled at me and shot up from her chair. Embarrassed, she sat back down. I could only chuckle at that reaction.  
I didn't think she would bond that easily.  
"Then I'll help ya, too! I gotta do some work anyways, might as well do it this way." Neptune added.  
"That's settled then. The Candidates may as well stay here as they would need to return either way. We have enough rooms for them to sleep. The CPUs and Oracles on the other hand should return to their nations." Histoire said concluding the conference.  
The CPUs gave their goodbyes and the Candidates gave theirs to their sisters as well.  
While walking out, Noire eyed me and Blanc snipped at my head, to which Mina scolded her. Vert wanted to hug me, but I digressed. The last time she did that, I fell unconscious.

"Then, Diana, I need to talk to you. In private." Histoire's sudden request came as a surprise, but Diana felt it was important and followed her.  
"Well, it's not quite bed-time yet. So what should we do?" I asked the other Candidates once my sister and the oracle left the room.

* * *

Why did I even ask? We were currently eight players at one console, playing something that could be described as the Hypedimension's Super Smash Bros.  
And yes, _*eight*_ players. Nepgear, Uni, Ram, Rom, Neptune, I and, once they were done with their chat, Diana and Histoire. Yes, Histoire is playing a video game.  
She has nothing better to do and needs some time to relax. And to our surprise, she was dominating _*everybody*_.  
We even all turned against her at some point and she was still winning.  
We weren't frustrated though. It was just some friendly matches, nothing more.

You know, actually...  
" **GOSH, I QUIT! GAMISTY'S BEING NO FUN! GOOD NIGHT!** " With those words, Neptune threw her controller away and stomped out of the room.  
We all looked after her. "Has that happened before?" Diana asked.  
Histoire, looking extremely relaxed and calm, answered after a second or two. "You know, it's really relaxing to see how Neptune is angry because of me, not the other way around."  
She paused and continued. "So yes, that has happened before."  
She sounded eerily calm saying that...  
"Sis will not disappear. At least not for long." Nepgear added.  
"You know, that was an oddly exact statement." I pointed out. "Yeah, it has happened before. But she usually returns after a few hours. She needs her pudding." Nepgear admitted sheepishly.

We soon heard a distant shout, presumably from Linda. " **NEPTUNE!** " Then another sound could be heard. Ceramic shattering. " **GOD DAMMIT!** " That voice also belonged to Linda.  
Shortly afterwards a scared Neptune ran across the door she just left and Linda ran after her with a Planeptune-styled baseball bat.  
We just stared at the door for a few seconds before we could hear a the baseball bat hitting stuff that was neither furniture nor the walls.  
My suspicion as to what it hit were answered a second later when Neptune ran across the door once more, this time bruised and with messy clothes.  
Linda, instead of running after her, sighed when she reached the door, stored the baseball bat in her own inventory, picked up the controller and sat down next to us.

"She's reason number 2 I'm relaxed." 'Gamisty' said as Linda did so. "Because she 'takes care' of Neptune so I can do more important things."  
Silence... We decided to shrug it off and just continue playing.

* * *

When it was getting late, we decided on the rooms. Since the guest room Linda had stayed in was re-functioned to be her personal room, we needed to stay in another one.  
Well, actually, everything was reshuffled for some reason.  
Neptune and Linda were still in their respective rooms.  
Nepgear offered to me to sleep 'with her'. I questioned the way she said it, she blushed, Neptune gave a weird smirk, but I agreed nonetheless.  
Uni and my sister got the guest room next to Nepgear's room. Ram and Rom slept in the room next to that one.

Good thing Vert gave us a set of Leanbox-themed pajamas. Could have been really embarrassing... since Nepgear only had one bed, admittedly a really large one, at least as big as the one I shared with Diana in Leanbox.  
Also the equipment screen on my HUD made putting the pajamas quick and easy. And they were comfortable and easy to wear, to say the least.  
"So, Nepgear, any specific reason you offered me to sleep in the room as you." I asked her.  
"N-no... w-well, yes." Her answer was hesitant, but that didn't matter to me. "I wanted some time in private with you to talk about things."  
... Getting my head out of the gutter, I returned the question calmly. "So, what is it?"  
"Y-you seem to r-really like me. And I h-have the feeling th-that I like you, too." Nepgear stuttered.  
It took me quite some time to find to a good answer to that bold statement. "Technically, today was the first day I really talked to you. So that's sudden."  
"Y-yes, but it s-seems like you know m-me for way longer."  
The video game thing... "Yeah, basically I do. You're a video game character in my world, you know. I kinda know your personality from there."  
"Yeah, I-I know." She looked down sadly. I put a hand on her shoulder, to her surprise. "Listen, whether you are or not, you're still you. And that's fine as it is. Just don't drag yourself down."  
"Y-You're right. I don't know what just came over me." "It's fine." I decided to pull her into a hug. She didn't really hesitate to return the hug.  
"Thank you for helping." "It's fine, as I just said."

The door was slammed open, Neptune stood in the open door frame... in her pajamas.  
" **GET AWAY FROM MY SISTER!** " She shouted and lunged at me. I separated my hug from Nepgear and sidestepped. "Goodness!" Nepgear replied to the whole situation.  
Neptune might have landed face-first on the ground, but she immediately stood between me and Nepgear.  
"If you want to get at Jr., you have to pass by me." I facepalmed in response to that statement.  
"Nepgear, step back a bit, would ya?" I requested from her and she followed.  
"Star Wrath." I said flatly and pointed my hands to the side opposite to the door.  
"Wha-?!" Neptune didn't get to finish her statement as a storm of shiny projectiles knocked her out of the room and into the wall opposite from the door in the hallway.  
"You... win..." Neptune muttered before falling unconsciously of the wall. "...for... now..."  
Nepgear definitely looked a bit confused. "What level are you?"  
I looked at my stats and answered. "46. Trust me, it's the knock-back."  
"If you say so." Nepgear replied. "But let's sleep, it's late."

I went to close the door and then lied down on the opposite end of the bed from Nepgear.


	18. Chapter 17: Bed-Time

I can't sleep.  
It has probably been an hour already, just lying in the bed, covered by the sheets. Right next to Nepgear.  
But she surely isn't the reason I can't sleep. In fact, knowing she felt better than before, should have made it easier for me.  
I am instead mostly thinking about the last few days. The fact, that I am risking my life for their world and for my original world.

It basically came out of nowhere. Well, Neptune did.  
I and Diana came here out of free will, hoping for a more interesting life.  
Now we are the CPU Candidates of Leanbox. To be exact, I am the CPU Candidate of Leanbox.  
What exactly is Diana? I don't know. Maybe that was what Histy talked about with her earlier.

We agreed because... well, I don't know.  
Power? No, I never needed a lot. I had my close friends and I was happy with that.  
Immortality? Sure, sounds nice at first... but you will out-live all your friends...  
Flying? That's cool, but a little silly of a reason.  
Maybe I wanted to be able to help and protect.

I have always been a very kind and considerate but physically weak person.  
Therefore I was only mean to people, who didn't treat me right either.  
And even then, I could never hurt anybody... Maybe I've made the wrong the decision after all...  
But I would surely be a great help along with my sister to help protect this world, mine as well.  
Right?

Yeah, 'my' world. Where do I belong?  
Most of my friends are on earth. Yet, I have a close bond to the Hyperdimension now.  
Then, my family. I wasn't even sure anymore whether to consider Vert or my mom more as family.  
Or heck, even Nep and Gear.

Speaking of Nepgear... now she is on my mind.  
What do I actually feel for her? I've never been really good with girls.  
In fact, I was rarely ever even in a relation with a girl that could even be considered 'friends'.  
But, yet, somehow knowing, she's okay, is helping me a lot. I don't why exactly.  
I mean, I don't actually know her for very long in person.

And Vert surely hasn't bought me a PC yet. Always keeping your priorities straight.

* * *

A silent moan and rustling of the bed sheets behind me got me out of my train of thoughts.  
Seems like I hadn't been the only person unable to sleep.  
Therefore I turned around to face Nepgear, accompanied by the rustling of the bed sheets once more.

"Can't sleep either, heh?" She asked me quietly.  
"No. The last days came back to haunt me." I replied sheepishly.  
"I don't feel right about this either. Like... it's going to end horribly..."  
At that instant, a shiver ran down my spine and made me remember the dream I had had the day before I had come here...  
And the line that the voice which sounded like Arfoire's had said. "You can change fate, but you can't change story..." I muttered unwillingly.  
"Huh, what do you mean?" Nepgear asked confused about my statement.  
"I... repeated a sentence I remembered just now... but I don't what it means..."  
I rolled onto my back to stare at the ceiling, Nepgear did so, too.  
Silently, we thought about what it could mean...

"We're from a video game in your dimension, you said, right?" Nepgear suddenly whispered.  
"And you can't change the story in a video game, huh?" I completed the thought.  
"But..." I paused for a second to rethink my formulation, "these events are not portrayed in a video game..."  
Still, I had changed the events of this timeline, their fate, already in some form.  
Hmm...

"I have a feeling the threat actually is targeting the Hyperdimension, and not our world..." I said slightly unconfident.  
"And... we're stepping right into a trap..." Nepgear finished my sentence.  
I gulped, unsettled about what might await us. "They will surely await us either way. They might have anti-crystals or some other forms..."  
I cut myself off, rethinking the events of the day, Neptune had broken my closet... I meant wardrobe.  
"They _*do*_ have that weapon that knocked my sister out easily enough..." Nepgear muttered, practically reading my thoughts.  
"But I don't think that would be too hard to avoid..." "...because the laser will take a few seconds to charge and can't be turned while charging."

I smiled and turned to Nepgear once more.  
"Well, at least we're in sync." Something about that made me happier.  
She turned to me as well and returned the smile.  
"I don't know why, but that makes me happy." She told me, widening her smile.  
"Yeah, me too." I returned and widened my smile as well.

She leaned in to give me another kiss on my cheek.  
"Still, we need to sleep. We will need to train a lot tomorrow." She said sleepily.  
"Yeah, good night, Nepgear." "Good night, Deniz."

And with that, we both fell asleep silently, smiling happily.

 _[Lily Rank up!]_


	19. Extra 2: Nepgear

_***~1 week ago***_  
 _ ***Nepgear's PoV***_

I woke up from... I didn't know. I couldn't clearly remember.  
I remembered some fight...  
Was I knocked out?

I opened my eyes and...

Where was I?  
It was dark, it was unfamiliar... There was just barely enough light to identify the almost empty room...  
There was a mattress and a door.  
It was then that I realized I felt weak. Weaker than ever before.  
Was this because I couldn't feel the Sharicite?  
Why couldn't I reach it? Was it blocked off by something?  
I was so used to the feeling of the shares... that I felt hollow now they were gone...  
And I couldn't even move. Chained to the wall.  
Here was... was...  
Nothing.  
Just a dark room.  
And I was stuck inside. No way to escape.

And minutes passed, nothing happening...

I was scared. Scared for my life. And it was just building up the longer I remained here.  
Should I call out for help?  
Would anybody hear me?  
Did I have any other options?  
I should just gather what little strength I had and try.  
At least try. Trying was all I could do.

" **HEEEELP!** "

"Well, look who's awake... I've been worrying a little already. I didn't intend to kill you in an unfair battle."  
A male voice... there was only a slight hint of malice... and... worry? It sounded like he was at least honorable.  
Soon after, I heard a door creaking slightly, not letting in any more light to this room as the door beyond was dark as well.  
I could recognize a slight silhouette... obscured by some robe.

I still didn't exchange my the expression of despair on my face.  
The fear I felt was still there. And it seemed like he could feel it.  
"Hey, I didn't come here to hurt you. Nobody in this building will. We are not heartless. But you are in our way right now."

This, obviously, did little to calm me down.  
Now shivering as well, I hung my head and tears started dripping down my face, onto the ground.  
When they did, a quiet sound resonated in the room.  
That were the only sounds in the room for some time along with my sobs...

I had failed protecting Planeptune.  
My sister might still be at it...  
Neptune...

"W-What happened t-to Neptune?"  
My voice was weak, quiet, it sounded broken.  
"Honestly, I have no idea. She's not in my way, that's all I know."

Why did he do this? Did he want to see Planeptune burn to the ground?  
Why would that benefit him?  
Who would benefit from that?

"Mmm... _*Who*_ put you at a wall? You're not a trophy."  
Huh? What did he mean?  
"Here... let me help you."

He slowly inched closer to me.  
I had no power left to to anything against it.  
I didn't have the possibility to anyways.  
But... he removed the chains from my arms and legs.  
He also caught me as I fell and put me down onto the mattress in the room.  
It was surprisingly soft.  
And being exhausted, I quickly fell asleep...  
I just couldn't stay awake...

* * *

How long was I out for?  
I couldn't tell. My sense for time was non-existent.  
The dim light in the room didn't help either.  
It might as well be a street lantern or the moon.

I hadn't fully recovered either. Or it seemed that way.  
I still couldn't feel the shares. That was probably it.

And... I was still in the room.

And I was hungry, thirsty...  
I might starve if I don't get any food.

I stood up, struggling to keep standing upright and made my way over to the door.  
I knocked lightly against it.

"What is it?!" A grumpy female voice.  
"I am hungry..." It was more of a whisper than anything else.  
"Oh, that was for you~?" The sarcasm in her voice...

A silent sigh escaped my lips and I went back to the mattress.

Sitting down, I covered my face with my hands and started crying once again.  
I was gonna die here. By starvation or some other means...  
Planeptune was gonna fall.  
Maybe even the entirety of Gamindustri.  
And I could do nothing.  
Absolutely nothing.

" **HEY!** Shut up! You're our prisoner so be quiet."

I already didn't like that person.

 _ ***SLASH***_

I could hear a metal hitting metal.  
"Hey, you were a little careless. This is not a prison, so you're sure as heck not doing something legal."  
IF?  
"Where's my gun- **OH SH-** "

 _ ***SLASH***_

"You're disarmed now. Open the door."  
"Or?"  
"Or I will open the door with you."  
"No."  
"Fine then."  
" **AAH!** "

The door to this room was being hit repeatedly now and it didn't take long for it to fall off its hinges.  
Behind where the door used to be, I saw IF holding the now-unconscious 'guard'.

Oh, no...  
My view became blurry...  
I fell over.  
"Nepgear!"  
And blackness overcame me...


	20. Chapter 18: Miss Hurts-a-lot

I woke up once more in the Planeptune Basilicom.  
Woken up by a warm feeling on my back.  
And immediately, my worries came back as well.

I decided to open my eyes and go outside to get some fresh air.  
The light was dim, but-  
Oh, so Nepgear was hugging me...

 **WAIT, WHAT?!**

A right... she had kissed me already, why would I care.

Whatever. What time was it.  
It said '08:47' on Nepgear's digital clock.  
Might as well wake her up.

I managed to turn around in her embrace.  
I shook her lightly. "Wakey-wakey, honey." I chuckled a little internally. 'Honey' We didn't get that close yet.  
"Morning, Deniz." She greeted me sleepily and, to my surprise, tightened the hug.  
After the initial 'shock' was over, I returned the hug.

"I heard the 'honey'... I don't mind, really." She whispered.  
While I couldn't see it, I could feel my face turning red by the radiated heat.  
"I have a feeling your sister won't be happy about th-" I stopped when I saw Nepgear's eyes widen.

"I won't be happy 'bout what?" It voiced sarcastically behind me.

I was in no position to fight. I mean, bed sheets, pajama, I'd have to draw my weapon...  
So I simply sighed heavily and formed a reply with my mouth.  
"Did Histy not teach you to knock before entering other's rooms?"  
"More than a thousand times. I have a good memory." I somehow doubt the lat-

 _ ***THUMP***_

* * *

-ter...

 **WHY AM I IN THE OUTSKIRTS OF PLANEPTUNE?!**  
What happened ba-

Dammit, Nep.

Dammit.

I got up, brushed the dirt from my clothes and took a look around.  
Forests. Forests everywhere.  
I might as well fly back.

"Access!"  
And with that, I activated my HDD for the third time yet.  
I flew up high to take a look around.

"Uh... Hey, Nep..."  
Purple Heart was floating right in front of me when I turned around.  
She was accompanied by an annoyed look on her face and her arms crossed under her chest.  
"D-did you even talk to your sister?" I questioned, intimidated by her appearance.  
My question wasn't answered, instead I was slapped in the face.

Why didn't she say anything? I mean, she should have at least yell-  
" **I WON'T LET YOU DO THAT TO MY SISTER?!** " My ears were ringing...

Wait, what was she talking about? "Do what?"  
"You know what!" "I have no idea."  
Actually, I suspected something, but that never happened.  
She slapped me once more.  
"Ouch, you know, that hurts!"  
And once more.  
"\\(O_O)/ What the hell did I do?!" How do you even pronounce the emoticon?!  
"You know _*exactly*_ what!"

I kind of gave up winning this argument at this point and sighed.  
"Gosh, ask your sister or something. Where is the way to Planeptune? I gotta eat breakfast, you know."  
She materialized her sword...  
Why did I have to ask?

 ** _*THUMP*_**

* * *

Well at least I _*did*_ eat breakfast before Neptune returned from her 'stroll for security', as she told the others.  
Everybody believed my explanation more than Nep's, so there.

Right now, I, Diana, this time in purple (I'm suspecting what 'clear' means), and Nepgear, or rather Purple Sister, were flying towards the Gamindustri Graveyard in our HDDs.  
I actually did not find the time to ask a lot about Gamindustri.  
I might knew it from the games, but there is more to it than just that, right?

"So, Nepgear, mind answering me some questions about Gamindustri?"  
"No, go ahead. What is it?"  
"What political position do the common people have?" Let's start off with the complicated stuff.  
"They don't directly have one at all. But the thing is, as you know, their believe powers the CPUs, so they... err... we have to make sure the people are happy."  
Diana joined our conversation. "So basically, on paper, the CPUs may do as they please and what they say is final."  
"Yeah, it is." Nepgear answered. "What if corruption happens? Like 'buying' the CPU?" I questioned.  
"I suppose my previous reply would answer that as well... then again, it might depend on the situation."  
"Something about CPUs themselves. Do they age and how?"  
Nepgear rubbed her chin. She thought a while about it before answering.  
"I suppose we do age... but we stop at a certain age." She paused a little to think some more.  
"And... that age seems to be different for everybody. Neptune definitely seems younger than Vert, yet she is older."  
"What exactly is 'Hard Drive Divinity'?"

Nepgear thought about, but she quickly had a shocked expression on her face and she almost fell.  
Catching herself, she flew back up and replied. "I'm afraid I... d-don't know."  
The hesitation was obvious, but it was not because she didn't know.  
... It might make her question her existence. Let's just leave it at th-

"The Gamindustri Graveyard... And the coliseum. We're here."  
Nepgear threw me out of my thoughts and we landed at the entrance to the coliseum, disabling our HDD.  
"You... No, we need to train a lot. So let's go. We only have this day."  
'We', huh? I was sure she was strong enough. She didn't really need the training.

* * *

And by 'train a lot', they meant 'grind for 5 hours straight'.  
...Actually, I kind of expected that. We six were currently on the way back to Planeptune.  
Yes, six.  
Uni, Ram and Rom joined in at some point, too.  
"Grumpy dummy Neptune" was the reason, as Ram voiced it.  
Rom agreed while Uni on the other hand said 'she just felt like it'.

Well, anyways, their arrival was coupled to... a fight ~30 levels above ours.

* * *

 _ ***~1 hour earlier***_  
" **RAM?!** " "Come on, we can't die here." " **WE CAN FEEL THE PAIN, THOUGH!** "  
Ram had just selected a fight against 'Delphinus'.  
You'd get an achievement in Re;Birth2 for that fight. That's how hard it is.

" **SPEAR!** " I yelled, when I noticed it was swinging its spear at us.  
We all ducked or floated above just in time not to get hit. Good thing this isn't really turn-based.  
That'd be lame.

And it's Uni's turn... **DAMMIT!**  
She used it to fire a barrage of bullets at the enemy, it didn't deal _*any*_ damage, but it charged our EXE Drive by quite a bit.  
Nepgear then attacked in quick succession to bring the EXE Drive up a bit as well.  
Ram's turn...  
"We need it fully charged! Your formation skill slows down the enemy!" I yelled. "I got it, dummy!"  
Rom rushed at Delphinus as well, so did I and Diana.

The EXE Drive was filled.  
But it was Delphinus' turn. It used a AoE attack with a large radius. We weren't really able to dodge it and all got hit.  
"Gah! J-just what I needed..." I screamed and Diana added "F- Ouch!" We both were KO'd by the attack, the others survived just barely.  
Well... 'KO'd'. We were conscious, but couldn't move.

"Superior Angels!" Uni shouted.  
And the skill was executed as usual.  
Uni started with her barrage of shots, followed by Rom and Ram using their icicles to pierce the enemy.  
Nepgear finished the attack by first stabbing and swinging her sword at it, before distancing and activating M.P.B.L. to shoot a devastating laser.  
We could be winning!  
And when the dust settled...

"It's still standing?!" Uni yelled in frustration.  
"Um, Uni, it's not just standing... it is barely hurt..." Nepgear pointed out.  
'We' also didn't gain any additional turns from that, Delphinus is simply too fast.  
Where is Falcom when you need her?

After the attacks left for us were over, Delphinus struck again, wiping the floor with us. _*Literally*_.  
And because that didn't seem to hurt enough, it slammed its spear on us over and **OVER** again.

* * *

 _ ***Back to now***_

I shuddered remembering what had happened. **THE PAIN! THE AGONY! RAM'S TEMPORARY 'DEATH'!** Well... actually...  
Still, I was level 71 and Diana level 69. The other candidates had leveled as well, but not as significantly.  
"Um, Deniz, you're spacing out..." Nepgear tapped my shoulder.  
"Uh, sorry. I was thinking about the events that Ram caused."  
"D-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-" "It's okay Ram. Look at Rom, she's okay."  
"I wasn't smacked like you were..."  
Silence.  
"We have an important day tomorrow, we need to get up in the night, to use the darkness of the night to our advantage." I broke the silence.  
"Booooring~ Why?" Ram asked annoyed. "'cause I'll send you back to the coliseum if you don't." I threatened.  
Silence once more.

When we arrived at the Planeptune Basilicom, we went to bed immediately.  
We need the rest. Nepgear wanted me sleep in her room once more.  
You know, it's been just two days with her... She was showing a lot of affection for that short time...


	21. Chapter 19: The final Showdown?

I woke up to the sound of heavy rain.  
The night was still hanging over the city.  
I turned to check the clock. '4:30'  
... It's time.  
All the preparations...  
Done now.  
We would be able to defeat the person who threatens my world... previous world...

I turned back towards Nepgear.  
I used a few seconds just to look at her.  
She was really affectionate towards me, although she barely knew me.  
A smile crept up my face and I kissed her cheek.  
"Morning, Nepgear." She yawned sleepily and looked at me.  
"Good morning, Deniz." "We need to get ready." "I know..."  
She was looking kind of sad that moment. Not liking to see her like this, I pulled her into a hug.  
"What is it, Gear?"  
"What if... what if don't return... _*fail*_..."  
While I could understand, why she was worried, it was nothing she should worry about.  
"Listen, would Histoire ever send yo-" I stopped mid-sentence realizing she had already put the CPUs in danger.  
They were gone for 3 years and almost died. Why did they even leave the decision making to Histy? She's _*horrible*_ at that!

"...yeah, she might... _*sigh*_ But... we're together. We can do this... And I have a feeling Diana has an ace up her sleeve." "Sorry... I just don't..."  
"You apologize too much as well. This is nothing to apologize about: You're worried. Just don't let it get to you."  
She gave me a warm smile and finally returned my hug.  
"It feels like I've known you a very long time..." She nuzzled into my shoulder.

I didn't exactly want to break this moment, so Uni decided to. Yup, Uni barged into the room without knocking.  
The only light source came from the hallways.  
Uni looked at us and her jaw dropped. She stood there a few seconds and just stared...  
"Uni... Would you mind... well... not starring at us?" I requested.  
"W-When did _*this*_ happen? Wh-What did you-?" Uni stammered.  
I let (finally?) go of Nepgear and sat up. She also did.  
"Oh great! Obviously the guy is at fault." I spoke sarcastically, facepalming after my commentary.  
"Y-you know, Uni... I... kind approached him..." Nepgear shyly said, not facing Uni.

"You know what? This is gonna escalate at some point. So let's not continue 'til that happens and get ready."  
I quickly interrupted anything they were gonna say.  
"R-right... that was what I came here originally... Does Neptune know?"  
"She does, and I can still feel it."

"So... Breakfast is almost ready... let's not waste anymore time..."  
And with that, Uni left the room.

* * *

'4:46'  
"If I am correct, the time should currently match ours in the other dimension." Histoire was in the process of establishing a portal.  
It wouldn't take long, yet she told us everything we would need to pay attention to, and told us the checklist of stuff we should have.

"And... done! I could gather that... actually, I couldn't gather anything. It's like... he doesn't exist... Please be careful!"  
"W-we'll be..." Nepgear stuttered.  
"We will. And we're ready!" Uni added.  
"Why do even need to go with this dummy!" Ram objected.  
"...we kind of offered to..." Rom explained. Ram looked like she was mentally facepalming.  
"I have never felt this ready to beat somebody. And no promises!" Diana was pretty much radiating her excitement.  
"I'll make sure they're okay. And we'll come back as the victors." I finished off.

"Very well then. Good luck."  
And... through the portal.

* * *

The Sahara... the last place on earth you would wanna be...  
Yet, we were here.

"You call _*this*_ a desert?!" Uni shouted out, shivering from the cold.  
"It's night-time." I was deadpanned. "Besides, we all have warm-clothing."  
Because it seemed like a good idea, now that I mentioned it, I put on my warm, green hoodie.  
The others put on theirs as well, the colors representative of their nations.

"Where do we have to go?" Uni questioned.  
"Histoire said it was north a few hundred meters..." I said as I pulled my phone for the compass app.  
"We need to go... in this direction..." I lead the way.

And we walked and walked...

"Uh... guys... Why didn't we fly?" Diana suddenly questioned, already having walked about 200 meters.  
"Actually... We should transform now, else they would notice our transformation when we did so closer to their base." I replied.  
"Are you sure?" Nepgear asked, a hint of doubt in her voice.  
"They can probably track us either way, what gives." Uni said enthusiastically.  
So we all activated HDD.  
Diana's outfit was a shade of red... crimson red.  
"Let's keep close to the ground. We will be harder to spot."  
The others nodded.

* * *

There it was. The base of whoever was behind this. It was just barely visible above the surface.  
Rom and Ram rushed forward, and aware of what they had to do, we didn't stop them, and instead hid behind a sand hill.  
When they were noticed and attacked, we darted out from our hiding and silently made our way towards the building.

Seemingly undetected, we were now inside.  
"Except Diana suddenly learned an invisibility spell, we _*will*_ be detected at some point if we're not careful. So be careful." I looked hopeful to Diana, who just shook her head.  
"I will be, you bet." Uni said. "O-of course..." Nepgear seemed to space out.  
"Nepgear, you have time to dream about the future once we're done here." I snickered.  
"Ah-ah... yes..."

We quickly got to a crossing.  
"Is anybody around the corner?" I asked Diana.  
"Nope." She replied casually.  
"Diana can look around corners?!" Uni asked distrusting.  
"I heard somebody over there!" It voiced from somewhere. "At it!" "Roger." "How did anybody get in?"  
"Now there are four. Thanks." Diana and I facepalmed simultaneously, while Uni hung her head and quietly groaned.

...

That wasn't a difficult fight... but...  
"Well... that felt horrible." I stated with disgust as I stabbed the last of the four guards.  
"To be fair, I'm not... comfortable with this as well." Nepgear said.  
"They _*are*_ our enemies..." Diana added dully.  
"We still need to get going. And quick! They probably know about now and will hunt us down." Uni took the initiative and dashed onward.  
"Whoa! Wait for us!"

The few guards that came our way, although armed, were quickly 'disposed' of by Uni.  
'Disposing people'... Thinking about it, it sounds... unworthy? They're not trash, are they?  
Anyways, her reflexes would make her shoot down everybody before they even had the chance to turn our direction.  
In the end, we left a trail of dead bodies...  
... I needed to get down from that. We did the right thing, we were saving the world. Right?... Right?

"Mmm... This door looks different..." Uni said.  
We had stopped in front of a... fancy door. Well, fancy compared to the rest of the pure steel doors.  
"Well, I suppose somebody important is behind there." She put her rifle at the door's lock, a quiet metallic 'clunk' resonating.  
Before she could shoot, the door was opened and a red crystal hit her square in the face.  
Uni was knocked over and her HDD was shattered...

After a moment of shock, Nepgear spoke up. "It's... an Anti-Crystal..."  
"Oh, my. You're fast, genius."  
A male with a black robe, hood over his eyes, stepped from the shadows of the room.  
Diana picked up the Anti-Crystal and destroyed it, the contact of it didn't seem to affect her HDD at all.  
"Now that's taken care of..." Diana began and turned towards the guy in the robe "...who are you?"

"That's not important, you may only call me the Puppet Master."  
"...W-Why? You don't have any puppets." Diana questioned.  
"Then call me Explode... I don't care..." Explode replied.  
"Well then, Explode, what is your plan?" "Oh, my plan... Don't you see? Destroy dimensions!"  
Uni slowly stood back up. "W-what happened... Who..."  
She stood unsteadily, so Nepgear helped her. "He says we could call him Explode."

...

I just looked at them for a second before realization hit me.  
I quickly turned back at the villain, sword raised...  
He just stood there, bored, checking his fingernails.  
"Uh... you not gonna attack us... I mean, we're clearly here to stop you... and it'd be the perfect moment to strike." I questioned his (non-existent) actions.  
"Dude, I'm not a douche. I am respectful. And there would be no fun in that."  
"Let me guess, you want a duel. 1 on 1. For glory. The winner takes it all, the loser dies."  
"Correct! Honor is everything for me!" Well, I guess even the worst people can be honorable.  
"So who wants to fight? I am eager!" Explode requested.

"I do." Diana began "I will do whatever is necessary to stop you."  
That's surprising, but I wasn't gonna stop her... She was more... than capable...  
I motioned for Nepgear and Uni to move back slightly.

"I am not just an 'ordinary' CPU, you see." Diana said threateningly, a red aura slowly building up around her.  
"I would be more than capable to do what you do." She stretched out her right arm, the aura concentrating in her hand and taking the shape of a spear.  
"But if I can't release all of that power..." Diana took a step forward.  
"...or it would consume me. Histoire told me. I will not allow that to happen." She took yet another step forward.  
"But I won't allow you to destroy this world either." She extended her wings and floated.  
"You wanted a duel. I'll give you a duel. But you won't win, I will. By the goddesses of Gamindustri."

With those words she dashed at Explode, her spear in front of her.  
Unimpressed by her words, he unsheathed a tomahawk and easily reflected her attack.  
"So many empty words, so weak." He spoke as he lunged at Diana who dodged his attack by a short dash sideways, her left hand extending.  
"Lunar Flare!" A barrage of bright red, glowing projectiles shot from her hand towards Explode.  
He didn't need more than just a hand-movement to cancel her projectiles, dropping them to the ground.  
"Boring. You're boring. You're weak. And I will decimate you! **SHADOW-FLAME**!"

He raised both his hands slowly and while doing so a dark purple glowing line appeared on the ground.  
Once this was established, sharp spear-like objects shot out of the ground at the line, inching closer to Diana steadily.  
But... she was like paralyzed, she would dodge...  
No...

Throwing pride out of the imaginary window, I quickly tackled Diana out of the way of the attack.  
Just in time, too... But...

I took the attack, impaled a couple times, my HP dropped to zero.

The spears faded away, the attack was complete.  
"I...I'm sorry, Nepgear..." I muttered.  
Before my eyes shut, I could see Diana extruding the same red aura once more, but way more heavily.  
Then I could hear quiet sobbing...

You can do it.  
You... can...  
You... will...  
Don't... waste... th-


	22. Chapter 20: Lose when you win

Uh... Am I dead?  
No... I couldn't be... I can still think...

"I think he's waking up!" Seems like my senses slowly returned to me.  
"Thank, goodness." I can hear voices... But just barely.

"Uwah... Wh-What happened..." I voice my thoughts unintentionally...  
"Deniz! You're alive!" It is Nepgear's voice...  
"S-so... what... happened...?" I ask once more, slowly opening my eyes.  
Diana has deactivated her HDD, Nepgear didn't, myself... well, it is deactivated, obviously. I was unconscious.  
"Uh... How do I put this..." Diana begins.  
"Let me explain. I think you weren't yourself." Nepgear offered.  
"Yeah, sure. Go ahead."

* * *

 _ ***~30 Minutes earlier***_  
 _ ***Nepgear's PoV***_

Deniz was just impaled... My eyes begin to water... No... I was crying... He was my friend... I fell to my knees and covered my face in my hands.  
"Deniz..." Diana began, disbelief in her voice. She turned back towards... Explode, her voice threatening, dark, unsettling. "You _are_ gonna pay for this."  
Diana was once more covered in a red aura, but this time, it was thicker, heavier, to the point Diana herself was barely visible.  
Explode's eyes widened at the view, he stumbled back, and tried fleeing into a corner.

That the villain, who so easily killed Deniz was now cowering in fear.  
I and Uni backed off, something about it just wasn't right.

"Pay, Explode. Pay for what you have done. Feel the pain. Feel the agony. **DIE!** "  
With those words, Diana extended her left hand towards Explode, the aura flowing along her hand, through the air, now covering the villain.  
" **AAAAHHHH!** " He was in pain, it was visible, you could hear his screams, you could pretty much _feel_ it.  
" **AHAHAHAHAHA! YES! DIE! PAIN! FEEL THE PAIN!** " Diana yelled, laughing maniacally.  
It took only a few seconds of pained screams, before Explode fell limp.  
"Not enough. You need to pay more."

"Uni, I think she's lost it, let's do something, before anything worse happens."  
Uni hastily nodded.  
"Stark Vita!" We activated our coupling skill and attacked Diana... She wouldn't die from it... but let's hope she snaps back.

* * *

 _ ***Now***_  
 _ ***Deniz' POV***_

"... and from then, Diana was knocked out of her HDD, and she couldn't remember what exactly happened, and we healed you back up. It wasn't too late fortunately." Nepgear finishes up her explanation.  
In the mean time, I sat up. I feel well again and that's thanks to Diana and Nepgear.  
We are still in the enemy base, the guards were chased of by Uni, Rom and Ram already... Oh, those are back as well.  
And no self-destruction. That's also good.

Still, we couldn't relax for long as Histoire suddenly calls.  
"Planeptune is under attack! Neptune is struggling and the other CPUs have smaller attacks as well! You need come!" Histoire sounds desperate.  
"Just done here. Open a portal!" Nepgear answers confidently.  
"Sure!" The portal appears a few inches away from us.  
We step through without hesitation.

* * *

"We need somebody to protect the Basilicom."  
"I will stay here." Diana offers.  
"Are you sure sis won't need any help?" Uni questions.  
"No, she and her military can handle it. She would much rather prefer you to stay here. Same with you, Rom and Ram."  
Ram is quick to retort. "Of course big sis handle it! She's the best."

"We have other priorities right now. Go, help Neptune." Histoire sends us (minus Diana) off.

Flying through the town, we can see the Planeptunian military evacuate the city.  
The further we fly, the less people but more chaos is visible.

We arrive just in time to see Neptune fall towards the ground.  
"Neptune!" Nepgear shouts and dashes to catch her sister.  
"Junior... Just in time..." Nepgear hands her a Nep Bull. "We need you as well."  
A little disgusted, Neptune chucks down the drink and floats once more.

Uni, Rom and Ram on the other hand have already been fighting, while I have kept the monsters off of the purple sisters...  
They weren't really paying attention.  
"Hey, family later, nation now!" I shout at them, while fending of another Bit Epsilon... Where these things even in the games? Does it matter? No.  
"You're right." "For Planeptune!" "For Gamindustri! ... Uh... Let's help the other Candidates..." I pointed towards the others being swarmed by a large amount of more robotic monsters.

 _ ***SLASH***_

I defeat yet another monster just in time before it tackles Uni from the back.  
"Whoa. Good thing I was here." "I-I didn't need your help!" "Keep telling yourself that. And while you do that, turn around."  
Uni turns around and immediately shoots a horse-bird down...  
Well, that's a really random selection of enemies.  
I dash up meanwhile, making two other monsters smash into each other, dissolving them into data.

" **ANCIENT DRAGONS!** " Nepgear shouts worriedly.  
The part about that statement that worries me, is the 'S' at the end...  
The wave of monsters has just ended as well. _sigh_

And Nepgear wasn't kidding, _three_ Ancient Dragons have run through the east walls of Planeptune.  
The few people still there, are screaming and running for their lives.  
Still, it'd be funny if some comical gag ensued now and killed one... of... the... dragons...

A green blur, accompanied by a war scream, just smashed into the dragon which had advanced the furthest into the city, knocking him out of view into the direction he came from...  
" **WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!** " I question loudly.  
"Might have been Scourge. We never really know what he does." Purple Heart answers me, like it was an every-day event.  
" **OH NO!** I need to get back to Lastation!" Uni screams, flying after the dragon...  
I looked back at Purple Heart with a bored expression.  
"He's not my problem now. Noire and Uni can handle one." The Planeptune CPU shruggs.

Still, that leaves us with _two_ Ancient Dragons.

"Jr. and I will target the dragon to the left, Deniz, Rom, Ram, you will target the one on the right."  
Purple Heart has a plan. Nobody disagrees and we silently do as she said.

"Go for it!" Rom buffs Ram quickly. "Thanks, Rom! E-Force Blizzard!" "Star Wrath!" Ram and I use our skills respectively.  
The Ancient Dragon stumbles back because of our sudden attack, screaming in pain.  
It doesn't leave us any more time, as it immediately counter attacks with a swipe of claws.  
Unfortunately, it does hit all of us, knocking us back slightly.  
Additionally, its attack drained a good chunk of our HP.  
My turn is next, I (obviously) use it to fill our EXE Drive.  
"Absolute Zero!" "Northern Cross!" We have just barely enough charge so Ram and Rom can both use their EXE skill.  
The dragon couldn't take those attacks as well and shattered into data fragments.

Yeah, we are about Level 70. I don't think these dragons are that strong.  
Right, let's help Neptune and Nepgear...  
Rom and Ram are already doing that... I am a genius.

But before I could arrive, the dragon Neptune and Nepgear had fought slashes at the former.  
The attack catches her off-guard and therefore knocks her back.  
Nepgear grits her teeth " **CELESTIAL SEVERANCE!** "  
Her EXE Drive isn't enough to beat the dragon unfortunately.

"Terra Blade!" My skill connects and finishes off the dragon just in time to prevent a counter-attack.

No wasting time now.  
We dash towards the direction Neptune went.

I arrive first...  
I then decide to turn around, grab Rom and Ram's hands, tell them "You don't want to know." and then bring them back to the Basilicom.

As we enter, we all deactivate our HHDs and-  
"IF... where have you been." IF has just walked past us.  
She stops turns around and opens her mouth... "Uhm... I..."  
I facepalm and motion her to just go on. The attack was over. It doesn't matter anymore.

Using the elevator to travel back to the balcony level, we find that the windows are broken.  
"Histoire?!" I yelled worriedly for Histoire. Rom and Ram look scared as well.  
The Oracle slowly moves out of her hiding place and sighs when she sees us.  
"What happened?" I questioned.

"That OC-person had come and kidnapped... Diana..." Histoire explains and...  
Diana just flew back into the room, HDD activated.

"Hey? What is it?" Diana asks while disabling HDD.  
"Looks like we the person behind the attack is now dead." I assume.

"G-good work... Uhm..." Histore struggles to find words before she realizes "Where are Nepgear and Uni?"  
"Nepgear will come back eventually. Uni left to Lastastion because of... Scourge. (?)"

* * *

Rom and Ram have already returned to their nation.  
I wanted to stay here because I knew that Nepgear would need more than just Histoire.  
IF seems to have work (yet she missed the attack on the Basilicom) and Compa is nowhere to be found.  
Diana doesn't exactly have a reason to, but she opted to stay around anyways.

So here I am, waiting in Nepgear's room for her to return.  
It has been quiet some time already when the door slowly opens.  
There she is. Her face is covered in tears, her eyes are red.  
She is quietly sobbing and sits down next to me.  
I put my arms around her, she then returns the hug slowly.

"Why her? Why..." She muttered sadly.  
"It's gonna be alright, Nepgear. You can do it."  
"...Please stay here. You're the closest person to me right now."  
"I will. I promise, honey."  
No more words were needed as we just sat there, hugging each other.

It's going to be a hard time for her and she will need all the support she can get.  
Or else, everything will collapse over her.  
And Planeptune would with her.


End file.
